How Re-Using (and Storing) Costumes & Décor Cuts Trash, Costs, and Headaches

Halloween is big fun and big waste. The holiday also marks the start of a late-fall period when household trash surges. National reporting shows U.S. household waste jumps by more than a quarter between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, a reminder that the decorations and party supplies we buy now become part of a larger seasonal waste stream if we don’t keep and re-use them. ABC News+1 This year’s spending underscores the scale. The National Retail Federation (NRF) projects a record $13.1 billion in Halloween purchases for 2025. Within that total, consumers expect to spend $4.3 billion on costumes, $4.2 billion on decorations, and $3.9 billion on candy. More than seven in ten shoppers plan to buy costumes, and nearly eight in ten plan to decorate evidence that Americans keep acquiring seasonal items that can either be reused for years or land in the trash after a single night. Per-person Halloween spend has climbed to $114.45. National Retail Federation+1 One of Halloween’s most visible waste streams is pumpkins. Newsrooms summarizing federal guidance report over 1 billion pounds of pumpkins end up rotting in U.S. landfills after Halloween each year, creating methane as they decompose. California plays a major role in pumpkin production by value, it’s among the top U.S. states so keeping pumpkins out of the trash through cooking, farm donations, or composting has outsized benefits here in the Central Valley. AP News+1 Costumes are another quiet waste problem. Textiles have low recycling rates in the U.S.; EPA figures show clothing and other textiles are recycled at only about 13–15%, with millions of tons landfilled or burned each year. That’s the same materials stream many Halloween costumes fall into, especially inexpensive polyester outfits. Some news coverage citing sustainable fashion advocates estimates Americans discard on the order of tens of millions of costumes annually, a sobering snapshot of single-use buying. Regardless of the exact number, the data on textile disposal makes the case for keeping and re-using what you already own. EPA+1

How Derrel’s Mini Storage Turns One Night into Many

For Central Valley families in Fresno, Bakersfield, Clovis, Visalia and beyond, self-storage is a straightforward way to reuse instead of rebuy:

When the porch lights go dark, box up costumes, hats, masks, capes, makeup kits, and those empty orange pails along with yard inflatables, extension cords, string lights, power timers, window clings, and faux webs. A compact unit holds more than you think seasonal décor from an entire apartment’s worth of Halloween can live neatly in a 5×10 or 10×10 so your closets and garage don’t have to. Label clear bins by theme (costumes by size, indoor vs. outdoor décor, lighting and cords, party serveware) and stack them waist-high for fast access next fall. A small monthly rate is often far cheaper than re-purchasing costumes and décor every year especially if you’re tightening a household budget and it lets you build a quality, reusable holiday kit over time rather than starting from scratch.

Safety: Store It So It’s Ready and Safer Next Year

Safety starts with what you buy and how you store it. Fire organizations recommend battery-operated candles or glow sticks for jack-o’-lanterns and keeping flammable decorations and flowing costumes well away from heat sources. Choosing flame-resistant fabrics for costumes, and coiling cords neatly in their own tote, reduces next-year hazards when you unpack. Storing everything in lidded containers helps keep out dust, moisture, and pests so items perform as expected when the doorbell rings again. nfpa.org+1

Why storing beats tossing for your wallet and your footprint

• You keep money in your pocket. With spending at record levels, re-using costumes and décor you already paid for is the most reliable way to curb Halloween costs year after year. Reuse turns this year’s $114 in purchases into a multi-season investment instead of single-night expenses. National Retail Federation
• You cut trash before the holidays stack up. Halloween arrives just before the year’s most waste-intensive months. Storing and re-using reduces the number of items that become part of that seasonal spike. ABC News
• You keep textiles out of landfills. Costumes, often polyester, live longer when they’re clean, folded, and stored away from sun and heat. Lower recycling rates for textiles make every re-wear count more. EPA
• You make pumpkins part of the solution. After display, keep pumpkins out of the trash by cooking, donating, or composting; then store the non-organic Halloween gear (lights, cords, props) clean and ready for next fall. AP News

Simple storage setup that saves you next October

Box up costumes, decorations, and trick-or-treat pails as soon as you’re done remove batteries, wipe items dry, and seal totes. Place delicate pieces (masks, wigs, specialty makeup) on top, with cords and lighting in their own bin so you’re not untangling them next year. If you rotate other seasonal belongings winter coats, fall sports gear, tailgating kits into the same unit, you’ll still have room; a well-organized, modest-size space at Derrel’s Mini Storage is built for exactly this kind of year-round, low-cost seasonal rotation. Halloween doesn’t have to be a one-night purchase followed by a full trash cart. The numbers are clear record spending, low textile recycling, and a mountain of post-holiday pumpkin waste and so is the solution: reuse what you own and store it well. Derrel’s Mini Storage gives you a clean, secure place to keep costumes, decorations, and gear ready for many Octobers to come so your budget, and your curbside bin, both get a break. National Retail Federation+2EPA+2