Halloween costumes have a spooky environmental impact. Swaps are a way to reduce waste and recycle

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Braddock Sandoval perused tables with wigs, a Darth Vader mask, a black tutu and other items and garments on an unusually sizzling day in Los Angeles. He found a Hawaiian flower necklace and a shark costume and tried them on.

The chemistry professor at Occidental College heard about a campus swap where he could pick out a free Halloween costume with the goal of keeping it from being thrown away. Curious and in need of one, he swung by to see what he could find.

“I think there’s too much cheap plastic waste in this world. So the idea that people are recycling costumes is fantastic, both for budgets, like me, but also just for the planet,” Sandoval said with a laugh. He planned to attend a Halloween dance party dressed as a great white shark eating a tourist — a costume inspired by the freebies he found at the swap.

Every Halloween, costumes get their big moment. But every year, millions end up in a landfill after a single use, and many are made from synthetic plastics that don't easily break down, contributing to environmental pollution. In Southern California and across the country, Halloween costume swaps and thrift stores are keeping costumes from going to waste. People can donate clean costumes and pick a new one, reducing waste and the resources and emissions required to make new ones.

This year, the National Retail Federation estimates Americans will spend some $4.4 billion on Halloween costumes. In 2018 alone, they discarded about 11.3 million tons (10.25 million metric tons) of textiles, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. When shopping sustainably, experts say, keep three principles in mind: Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Shelie Miller, a University of Michigan professor who studies the environmental impacts of products, said Halloween costumes, like fast fashion, are often made cheaply from plastic materials. They tend to fall apart, she said, and are “not really intended to stick around for a very long time.”

And there are other environmental impacts.

Clothing accounts for 4% to 10% of global carbon emissions, she said, while textile dyeing contributes about 20% of wastewater emissions from industrial sources worldwide.

Synthetic fibers used in clothing, including many costumes, can shed microplastics during washing and end up in water sources, she said. Microplastics have been found in the ocean, air, food and water, as well as a range of human tissues. Growing evidence suggests they can pose risks to human health. Many of these materials are made from oil, which emits pollutants when burned, driving climate change and fueling extreme weather.

“The process of making these, the Halloween costumes, it’s incredible,” said Zack Bowersox, a senior lecturer in political science at Washington University in St. Louis who teaches a class on fast fashion and the environment.

Rather than being stitched together, costumes are often heat bonded, with the plastic melted at the edges to join pieces. “After the season, they’re not meant to even be thrifted or returned, they’re just meant to be thrown away. And that’s where most of them end up, it’s in the landfill. Something like 80% of those suits end up in the landfill,” Bowersox said.

Miller said there are many ways to enjoy Halloween without buying a one-off costume.

“Whenever we buy anything, we’re not just buying the one thing, we’re buying all of the environmental impacts of everything that went into making that product,” Miller said. “So whenever we’re using any sort of single-use product, whether we’re talking about single-use plastic or single-use costumes, we really have to be thinking about is this really how we want to spend our time, money, resources, and is there a better way?”

Sustainable fashion advocate Lexy Silverstein founded the Ultimate Halloween Swap last year after realizing how much money and material went into a costume that might be worn only a few hours before being dumped.

As an avid Halloween fan who loves donning costumes, she was forced to reflect on her own consumption and waste.

“That’s a lot of costumes that I’m buying and wearing once and getting rid of,” she told herself. And she began thinking of other seasons that encourage people to buy new things, like back-to-school time.

Last year, the swap collected hundreds of costume donations, including 10 boxes from the LA Clippers basketball team. It was such a success that she decided to do it again and has since expanded across Southern California, including at Occidental College where Sandoval found his shark suit.

Now, Silverstein is hoping to organize swaps for back-to-school, prom season, winter coats and other high-consumption, single-use times of year.

Washington University in St. Louis has its own version going. Its thrift store is stocked with clothes and items collected during student move-outs when many items get left behind, including Halloween costumes and accessories. For the second year, it organized an on-campus pop-up where the campus community could buy used Halloween costumes for a low price.

Cassie Hage, the university's assistant director at the Office of Sustainability, said this year's selections included Austin Powers and kiwi outfits, a demon from the hit TV show “Stranger Things” and matching platypus onesies that delighted a group of friends who stumbled upon them.

“They were kind of dancing around” in them, she said. “That was just a really fun moment to watch.”

Thrifting, attending clothing swaps and raiding friends' and family members' closets are all ways to avoid buying new costumes. You can assemble a Halloween costume from clothes and accessories you or a friend already own, or modify existing pieces to create a new look.

Silverstein also suggests renting costumes by looking through websites like Facebook Marketplace, Depop and Poshmark.

If you have to buy something, Bowersox suggests buying costumes or accessories made of plant-based materials such as cotton or linen. Licensed products can cost more, he said, but can offer greater transparency over how and where they're made.

Alison Linder, assistant sustainability coordinator at Occidental College, which has a thrift store of its own with Halloween costumes in stock, encouraged people to organize their own swaps with neighbors, friends or school classmates.

“It’s just as easy as asking your friends for a loan and offering to share what you have,” she said. “And just by doing that simple thing, you save money and you’re helping the environment.”

This story corrects the spelling of Zack Bowersox’s name.

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Braddock Sandoval, a chemistry professor at Occidental College, poses for photos with a costume he picked out during a Halloween costume swap on the campus in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Samuel Hernandez, center, looks for a costume for his grandson during a Halloween costume swap at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A stormtrooper mask is displayed with Hawaiian shirts and leis during a Halloween costume swap at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Sustainable fashion advocate Lexy Silverstein smiles while carrying a bag of costumes dropped off for a Halloween costume swap at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Halloween costumes and accessories are displayed during a Halloween costume swap at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

People gather at a Halloween costume swap at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

PARIS (AP) — A gunman firing from a vehicle at three locations in the Paris suburbs killed one person and wounded at least five others, including a 12-year-old girl, in what French authorities described as a racially motivated attack.

The suspect was arrested soon after the shooting, and France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s office took charge of the case. President Emmanuel Macron said it was “a racist terror attack“ and that the suspect's statements suggested it was premeditated.

"These people were targeted because of their skin color or perceived religion, and for no other reason," Macron said following a meeting with officials and residents in the suburb of Trappes, west of Paris. “There is no place for this in France."

The shootings took place over the course of about 15 minutes at three separate locations in the towns of Trappes and La Verrière, a suburban area about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Paris, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said. One person died and five were wounded, three of them with life-threatening injuries, he said.

“A deadly rampage took place this morning,” Nuñez told reporters in Trappes.

The suspect, who was arrested by police less than 20 minutes after he first started shooting, has been identified only as Kévin T., born in 1987, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s office said. Authorities did not disclose the man's last name.

His criminal record shows four previous convictions that had been automatically expunged under French law, the statement said.

A search of his car uncovered a Sten-type submachine gun and a canister of tear gas, and investigators found his apartment had been booby-trapped with three gas cylinders and electrical wires connected to a timer, according to the Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s office.

Another person, a member of the suspect’s immediate family, also was taken into police custody during the afternoon, it said.

The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's office said the person who died was a French man born in 2000. The medical condition of the people injured had not yet stabilized on Friday evening, it said.

Nuñez praised the five officers from the anti-crime brigade who stopped the suspect. “I commend them for their swift response,” he said.

Aurore Bergé, the minister for gender equality and fight against discriminations, said the 12-year-old girl was very seriously injured.

"If a racist motive is established, I hope that the whole nation will stand alongside the residents of Trappes, La Verrière, and the victims. We cannot tolerate even the slightest racist remark in the French Republic,” she said.

Trappes Mayor Ali Rabeh said the gunman appeared to have fired relatively randomly, targeting passersby at several locations including a playground, possibly because of their apparent African origin.

“This is probably one of the first attempted mass killings motivated by Islamophobia and racism,” he told reporters.

The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s office said it opened a criminal investigation into several offenses, including “murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise with the aggravating circumstance that the act was committed on account of the victim’s actual or perceived membership of a particular race, ethnic group, nationality or religion.”

The shooting happened as France braces for another day of protests against the high cost of living on Saturday, with major museums closing their doors and the government deploying a significantly larger security presence to prevent a repeat of last week’s violent unrest, which shocked the country.

Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed.

Police search a car at a gas station after a shooting in Trappes, outside Paris, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

Police stand near a park after a shooting in Trappes, outside Paris, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

Forensic investigators and police search for evidence after a shooting in Trappes, outside Paris, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

Emergency vehicles sit near a park after a shooting in Trappes, outside Paris, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

Forensic investigators search for evidence after a shooting in Trappes, outside Paris, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)