It is hard to believe, but it’s almost that time of year again when sugar-hyped witches, ghosts, superheroes and princesses will be ringing your doorbell and asking for candy. Halloween is a fun holiday for many of us, but the celebration can easily become expensive and far from eco-friendly, thanks to the decorations, candy and greeting cards. Worst of all, the plastic-packaged costumes can also be an enemy of the environment as well as your wallet.

Americans spend billions of dollars on Halloween goods each year, but you don’t have to contribute to the waste. Instead, keep this Halloween season as eco-friendly as possible with these tips for making a costume that will be a hit at your holiday party, but won’t crush your bank account — or the planet.

Certified pre-owned

Buying a brand new, expensive, cheaply-made costume is never necessary. Instead, there are a variety of ways that you can get a used costume that will work perfectly. You can visit your local thrift shop to find a used costume that won’t cost much, and reusing items is good for the environment.

You can also get together with friends, family and neighbors and host a costume swap party. You can easily do this for adults’ or kids’ costumes, and it can give you some Halloween inspiration. Send out some electronic invites to your friends with details about bringing old costumes they have stashed. Then, enjoy an evening of mixing and matching costumes until everyone has what they need.  You can use different parts of old costumes to create something new, or swap for one that is already complete. Either way, it will help you avoid a Halloween mega-store.

Look in your closet

It is quite possible that something already sitting in your closet would be perfect for a costume. Striped, plaid or polka dot clothing works for a clown costume, a sheet works for a ghost and black clothing can easily turn you into a bat or witch.

Do you have a formal dress or suit in your closet? Get dressed up and add a white sash to the outfit with the word “apology” written on it, and you can go as a “formal apology.” Do you have some old medals from winning competitions in school? Put them all around your neck, grab some loaves of bread and be a “breadwinner” this Halloween.

With just a few items, you have an entire costume that costs you next to nothing.

Makeup and face paint

Instead of buying an overpriced plastic or rubber Halloween mask, use makeup that you already have or non-toxic face paint to create your look.  You can even make your own DIY makeup by mixing cornstarch, solid shortening and natural food color. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has other face paint recipe options, while Smart Mama has a recipe for fake skin. There are tons of tutorials online to help you with this project, and you will be pleasantly surprised by how it turns out.

Raid the recycle bin and watch what you throw away

There are many things that we throw in the trash or into the recycling bin that can be used for Halloween costumes and decorations. Cardboard boxes and soda bottle caps can be the beginning of a robot costume; soda can tabs can become chainmail sleeves on a Monty Python costume; cardboard boxes and paint can turn you into a Tetris game piece; plastic cups, cardboard and paint can transform you into a LEGO character.

Work uniforms

Do you have a friend or family member that delivers pizzas? Or maybe you know someone who is a Subway sandwich artist. Anybody who wears a recognizable uniform to work can be the source of your next Halloween costume idea. Just ask them to borrow it for a night and add a special detail or two — like food service gloves or a pizza delivery bag — and you will be the life of the party.

DIY treat bags

If you are going trick-or-treating, you will need to add an eco-friendly candy bag to your Halloween ensemble. From reusable shopping bags to duct tape, there are many ideas out there — including 14 from The Spruce Crafts — that you can easily make so you can avoid the cheap plastic candy bucket.

A little bit of craftiness and creativity can go a long way during the Halloween holiday season. All it takes is using resources like items in your closet, the recycle bin and your real-life social network to avoid spending a ton of cash while keeping the celebration eco-friendly.

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