For forgetful Pards who have not yet figured out their Halloween costume, Wednesday evening saw a pop-up costume shop on the patio of Pardee Hall.
The pop-up, which was hosted by the Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection Club, also known as LEAP, in collaboration with the campus thrift store, presented customers with an array of potential costume elements, from fuzzy onesies to cowboy hats and spooky masks.
“We always encourage sustainability and waste reduction and don’t even realize how much of that comes from clothes and costumes being used once or twice a year and then never again,” LEAP spokesperson Elizabeth Miller ‘26 wrote in an email. “This event is a great way to reduce that waste and still find fun costumes for the season!”
Thrift store intern Efrata Seifu ‘25 said there was no shortage of items to choose from.
“I think it will be a fun experience,” Seifu said before the event. “You might find something that you like in addition to your costume, or, just generally, in addition to your closet. It’s a great way to find new stuff, while also being sustainable and there’s some good finds as well.”
Seifu said many of the items were sourced from Green Move-Out, in which students donate items to the sustainability office at the end of the year, and the career center.
The pop-up received a helping hand from Samantha Smith, the outreach and engagement manager in the Office of Sustainability.
Smith, a self-proclaimed thrifting advocate, explained the life cycle of a single garment and the waste it generates along the way.
“Whenever you buy something new, there are all these resources that it takes to create that new product,” Smith said. “A lot of those resources can be mitigated if we’re buying used, especially if we’re buying used locally.”
With all of the waste generated particularly around the Halloween season, from item packaging to an increase in the manufacturing of single-use garments, Smith said a sustainable solution was needed.
“We have goals for waste reduction and creating circularity on campus with materials,” Smith said. “So that’s kind of where this event fits in. The impact goes beyond waste to all those other things I talked about, water, energy. I think it’s something people can get behind.”
