October 13, 2012
If your child is like mine, she has known what she wants to be for Halloween since the day after last year’s holiday. This year it’s Supergirl. While I am happy for the switch from pretty princess to assertive, butt-kickin’ female, I must admit there wasn’t a green thought in my head when I told Nana to order the costume. I didn’t even know about National Costume Swap Day.
Started in 2010 by Kiwi Magazine, Green Halloween and Swap.com, National Costume Swap Day is an opportunity for families to trade and reuse those gently worn kids’ outfits. This year it’s being held on Saturday, October 13 with swaps organized in 34 states plus Canada. Find a 2012 costume swap near you (or start one and register it here).
While we’ve sometimes put together a costume from items Sofie already owns (last year’s cowgirl comes to mind), too often we buy a new outfit. Granted, my dress-up fanatic daughter gets a lot of mileage from her store-bought Halloween costumes—I’m quite certain the princess and ballerina outfits have progressed past the ‘gently used’ stage. But it would be satisfying to get greener (and save money) by finding her costume at a swap.
Based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Transportation, use-less-stuff.com says that swapping just half of kids’ Halloween costumes would reduce annual landfill waste by 6,250 tons!
While I am worried Sofie might not like the potentially limited options available to her at a swap, I could be surprised at the variety. And she just might be inspired by something she finds there. At the very least, I want to show my support for community recycling of once-a-year outfits.
Now we just need to start a swap day for those once-in-a-lifetime bridesmaid dresses!
