Halloween's haunting toll on the environment

October 22, 2019 | Sophia Trout

Photo: Jasmine Yi

Halloween is a night where adults and children alike can dress as their favorite characters and spend the evening gathering candy and celebrating the spine-chilling season. However, what are the repercussions of buying a new costume every year?

In an article titled "Halloween Takes a Terrifying Toll on the Environment," written by Claire Lampen, a survey done by Fairyland Trust and Hubbub states that the U.K. alone will use over 2,000 tons of plastic to make mass-market costumes.

The survey states that about 30 million people in the U.K. dress up for Halloween, and over 90% of families intend to buy new costumes. This number is minute compared to the 175 million people in the U.S. who celebrate Halloween according to a study done by the National Retail Federation.

The material of those new costumes? Oil-based plastic. In an article posted by The Guardian, Hubbub found that Halloween costumes sold by big-name retailers contained 83% of that plastic in the material.

Costumes aren't the only culprit in contributing to the added plastic disposal during the holiday. Plastic candy baskets, wigs, animal costumes, the costume packaging and more are a significant factor in the growing plastic in landfills.

Consumers are urged by environmental organizations to rethink their costume purchasing methods. In The Guardian article, Chris Rose from the Fairyland Trust advises consumers to buy from second-hand shops, re-work old costumes, or even DIY an outfit.

Aside from the garment itself, the overall emissions it takes to push out so many units of costumes in such a short time plays largely to the fast fashion trend seen from brands.

According to a study done by the Pulse of Fashion in 2015, the fashion industry produced over 1,715 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. An updated report from 2018 can be found here.

While Halloween is a holiday beloved by most, the recklessness of fast fashion and plastic pollution is turning the Earth into a real-life horror film.