Halloween is a time to dress up and celebrate, but it’s also a time when a lot of waste is created. Not only does celebrating Halloween lead to trash, like candy wrappers and decorations, but costumes, often only worn once, end up thrown in the trash as well. Luckily, however, there are ways to be sustainable when dressing up for the holiday.
Many college students don’t want to repeat costumes from year to year, meaning that costumes are likely to be thrown out and end up in landfills. Kellie Grengs, senior lecturer and costume designer in the department of human communication and theatre, believes that Halloween costumes can and should be sustainable.
For example, throwing away costumes after wearing them once creates unnecessary waste because fabric can be recycled many times. Grengs said that this recycling can be done on campus through the end of the spring semester via the recycling bin, or off campus. Grengs also said that there are many thrift stores where students can donate their clothes.
Grengs said that she adheres to this policy with the theatre department’s costumes as well. Since it’s not too common or sustainable to have new costumes made for every character in every...