Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.

For some, Halloween costume shopping begins three months in advance. But for last-minute shoppers, a common habit is to take advantage of Amazon’s two-day shipping and Spirit Halloween pop-ups during the week leading up to Halloween. College students make up a major demographic for Halloween spending, as the holiday often stretches across three or more days and thus requires multiple costumes.

Spooky season generates a large carbon footprint. Costumes alone are often made from nonrecyclable and synthetic materials, 83% of which end up in landfills each year. With access to plenty of thrift stores, nearly weekly vintage markets, roommates’ closets and online secondhand shops, students of the second-most sustainable campus in the country have no excuse not to source their costumes sustainably.

Spirit Halloween classically pops up every August through the beginning of November in the abandoned building of your favorite failed consignment store. With over 1,500 locations across the U.S. and Canada, trick-or-treaters and Halloween participants, ranging from your average sheet ghost to your Heidi Klum archetypes, frequent the store. The seasonal spooktacular business generates up to $1.9 billion in revenue annually, meaning that just this corporation alone sells billions of new plastic and synthetic costumes each year, all while landfills reach capacity and global warming creeps irreversibly.

This concept serves as an example of the outrageous capital demands of Halloween. Spirit Halloween’s ability to thrive within a short timeframe surely illustrates the enormous amounts of money Americans spend during the holiday. This is not to say that Spirit Halloween should not exist — there are many positive aspects of the company — but it is to argue that the conditions allowing its model to thrive are problematic and have a significant environmental impact on the Earth.

“Spooky season doesn’t lose its thrill when it comes in something other than an Amazon package.”

On top of that, clothing stores and Amazon relish their profit spikes during the Halloween season. A Jungle Scout study found that 44% of respondents turn to Amazon first for Halloween-related purchases. This horrifying period of mass consumption rolls around every single year, meaning there is no skin in the game for these companies to find sustainable solutions, despite there being a clear necessity for a more environmentally conscious holiday season.

Students at Colorado State University must make an effort to source their costumes and accessories secondhand through the classic reuse, reduce, recycle formula. Those costumes from previous years that are piled up and are tucked in a box in your closet are a fantastic alternative to the Oct. 29 trip to Spirit Halloween.

For those a little more keen on cultivating the perfect costume, scour thrift and vintage stores like Collective Vintage, Dandelions & Rust, Flamingo Boutique or Goodwill. You will find unique items while saving a buck and decreasing the carbon footprint.

While buying secondhand may be unrealistic for some individuals, costume shopping can be as simple as finding an alternative, more sustainable website. Turn to Depop, ThredUp, eBay or Poshmark; the cowboy hat you searched for on Amazon is surely waiting for you on one of these sites.

There are real, prevalent limitations to sustainability. If your budget limits your ability to purchase from sites like Depop because re-sellers can be more expensive, this alternative may not be feasible. However, for those who can spend hundreds of dollars on a Dolls Kill set, consider allocating that Halloween money toward stores with fewer environmental impacts.

Our generation has incredible accessibility to creative ideas and practical solutions. Through Pinterest, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, inspiration is not scarce. A fun, fresh costume trending on social media right now is the infamous Louvre robbers. All you need are black pants, a shirt and a beanie — easily found in a closet near you — plus a construction worker’s vest and some fun silver jewelry, which is typically available at thrift stores like Arc or Goodwill.

Halloween does not have to cost you or the environment as much as it has previously. There are pragmatic and sustainable alternatives that don’t fall short on efficacy and efficiency, so there’s little excuse not to buy your costume secondhand. Spooky season doesn’t lose its thrill when it comes in something other than an Amazon package.

Reach Caroline Studdert at letters@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.