Halloween’s Haunting Reality: Unmasking the Terrifying Trend of Overconsumption

Anton Kirichenko -

Welcome to Halloween - America’s latest festival of fright, where the scariest things don’t lurk in the shadows but pile high in landfills. Emily Hall, a history major with an eye on the environment, pulls back the curtain on one of America’s most beloved holidays to reveal a chilling truth: the rampant overconsumption that defines Halloween today.

The Gluttonous Growth of Halloween Spending

Every October, consumers plunge headfirst into a spending spree, setting records for holiday expenditures. This year, the tally could reach a spine-tingling \(13.1 billion, overshadowing last year’s \)12.2 billion spree. When gazing into the cauldron of rising costs, it seems a concoction of high tariffs and limited supply influences this spending surge. Yet, undeterred by bare-shelved stores, Americans persist in their festival of buying.

The Allure of Fast Fashion’s Disposable Allure

Thanks to fast fashion behemoths like Fashion Nova and Shein, Halloween’s wardrobe is a parade of single-use synthetic costumes. The packaging promises fleeting fun, yet after Halloween, these garments join an ever-growing mountain of waste. In their wake, they leave behind an enduring legacy of plastic, morphing into persistent microplastics polluting our environment.

This year’s decor of choice? A spooky-chic aesthetic inspired by Netflix’s Wednesday. While visually appealing, it pressures consumers to consume, embellish, discard, and repeat. Each trend’s lifecycle is fleeting, leaving last year’s chic in the dust, soon becoming forgotten relics contributing to holiday waste.

A Ghoulish Feast of Sweets and Waste

Not all Halloween horrors are visible. Candy, with its irresistible lure, accounts for $3.9 billion in holiday spending. Its sugar-sweet exterior conceals a sinister count of litter, with candy wrappers contributing significantly to ocean waste. According to The New Political, they are now the most widespread plastic pollution in our sea.

A Sustainable Path: Tricks for Reducing the Treats of Overconsumption

The specter of Halloween’s environmental impact doesn’t need to haunt us. Thrift stores beckon with costumes awaiting new stories, and home closets hold countless costume possibilities ripe for repurposing. Decaying trends dismiss last year’s decorations, yet thoughtful reuse can transform holiday waste into a bygone apparition.

The Frightful Future: Mindful Consumption

As festivities unfold, remember the true terror lies in unchecked consumerism. By making wise purchases and reusing what we already possess, we can banish the specter of overconsumption from our Halloween revelry. This year, let the frightfulness be reserved for the ghouls, not our habits.