Halloween is still one of the best nights of the year. It’s also one of the most expensive. According to the National Retail Federation, a retail industry group, people plan to spend an average of $115 each on Halloween this year. Costumes are the biggest single expense at $4.4 billion, more than candy or decorations, and 71% of people celebrating plan to buy one.
Most of those costumes get worn once. Your kid outgrows it or wants to be something new next October, and the old one sits in a closet until it ends up in the trash. Many costumes are made from synthetic materials that don’t readily biodegrade, so one night of wear can sit in a landfill for years.
People are already looking for a way out. In the same survey, 34% said that if prices run higher than expected, they’ll look for things they can reuse.
Last year, I decided to do something about both problems. I launched a Halloween costume donation drive built around one simple idea: Your old costume can be someone else’s new costume. And it worked.
This year, that idea is growing into The Ultimate Halloween Swap. You bring a costume you’re done with and take one home for free. You save money, and a costume stays out of the landfill for another year.
The Ultimate Halloween Swap Is Back for 2026
Last Halloween, the drive collected hundreds of costumes in Los Angeles and Baltimore, giving costumes that might otherwise have been thrown away a second life.
This year, we’re doing it again and I want to make it even bigger.
Where Can I Drop Off My Costume?
Drop-off boxes will be available at select locations from now until November 15, 2026:
- Heal the Bay Aquarium (Santa Monica Pier): 1600 Ocean Front Walk, Santa Monica, CA 90401. Saturday-Sunday: 12PM-4PM
- Opera Santa Barbara: 330 State Street, Suite 209, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Monday-Thursday: 10AM-4PM
- Occidental College: 1600 Campus Road, Los Angeles, CA. Monday-Friday: 9AM-5PM
- Girls Inc. LA, Knox Elementary: 8919 Main St, Los Angeles, CA. Monday-Friday: 8AM-4PM
- Girls Inc. LA, 93rd Street Elementary: 330 E. 93rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90003. Monday-Friday: 8AM-4PM
The Ultimate Halloween Swap key dates:
- Drop off & Swap: Now until November 6 at Heal the Bay, Opera Santa Barbara, Occidental College, Girls Inc. of LA, Knox Elementary and 93rd Street Elementary
- Specific Swap days:
- At Occidental College: October 16
- At Heal the Bay Nothin’ But Sand Cleanup: October 17
Instead of buying something new, wearing it once and tossing it, we can start treating costumes the same way we should treat the rest of our clothes: reuse them, share them, thrift them and keep them in circulation for as long as possible.
Is There a Halloween Costume in Your Closet Someone Else Could Wear?
One of the biggest lessons from last year’s drive was just how many perfectly good costumes people already have sitting at home.
Kids outgrow them. People buy a few options and wear one. Costumes get shoved into bins, closets and garages where they sit until someone eventually decides to throw them away. The Ultimate Halloween Swap gets them out of your garage and onto someone who’ll actually wear them. Donate them. Every costume you donate is one another family doesn’t have to buy. Costumes are the biggest Halloween expense this year, and for a parent already stretched by gas and groceries, a free one makes a real difference.
Let another kid become that superhero. Let someone else wear the princess dress. Let that random inflatable dinosaur make another appearance.
How Are People Already Reusing Halloween Costumes?
I love the idea of making secondhand costumes normal.
Plenty of people are already doing it: 22% of consumers say they reuse or recycle costumes from previous years, another 22% shop thrift or discount stores for Halloween looks, and 20% DIY their costumes. I have an entire blog about how you can DIY costumes from your closet. Click here
DIY Men in Black:
DIY Barbie Craze:
DIY School Girl:
Borrow one. Swap with another family. Thrift one. DIY something from clothes you already own. Donate last year’s costume so someone else can use it.
Sustainable fashion doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes it’s literally just using what already exists instead of buying more stuff.
What Can You Donate?
We’re accepting gently used:
- Pet costumes
- Kids’ Halloween costumes in all sizes
- Adult costumes
- Masks, wigs and Halloween accessories
- Costume pieces and separates
- Props that are safe and reusable
Basically, if it’s clean, wearable and something another person could enjoy, we want it.
Find more information at LexySilverstein.com.
How Can You Give Your Halloween Costume a Second Life?
Last year proved something important to me: people want an alternative to the buy-wear-trash cycle. Nearly 200 costumes found another path because people took a few minutes to pull something out of their closets and donate it.
This year, The Ultimate Halloween Swap is about taking that idea even further. So before you buy another brand-new costume, or throw last year’s away, take a look at what you already have. Someone else might be able to use it.
Donate it. Swap it. Thrift it. Rewear it. Just don’t trash it. Let’s give our Halloween costumes a second fright at life.
See you at The Ultimate Halloween Swap. 🎃
Where Can You Follow The Ultimate Halloween Swap?
Follow me on socials for The Ultimate Halloween Swap updates, sustainable costume ideas, thrifted Halloween inspiration and new drop-off locations throughout the season.
Lexy Silverstein
