A former Spirit Halloween employee revealed that the seasonal retailer allegedly forces workers to destroy unsold merchandise rather than donate it to charity.

What happened?

They took to Reddit to share their experience working at Spirit Halloween two years ago, describing how they were told to throw away "multiple huge boxes" of perfectly good merchandise during store teardowns.

According to the post, employees were told to break items so people couldn't salvage them through dumpster diving.

"This seemed insane to me because they put so much emphasis and weight into asking customers if they wanted to donate to Spirit of Children," the former employee wrote. "Can someone help me make sense of this?"

Someone who said they are a current Spirit employee confirmed this event in the comments section. "'Dead' merchandise is destroyed and thrown in the trash," they wrote. "Just like the Spirit of Children 'charity,' it's all about that tax write-off. They don't actually care about kids or anything."

Why is seasonal retail waste concerning?

The destruction of usable products creates a troubling environmental problem larger than one Halloween store. These practices add to America's growing waste crisis. The U.S. generates an estimated 292.4 million tons of municipal solid waste each year, per the Environmental Protection Agency.

The environmental damage from seasonal stores is even worse because their business model creates huge amounts of leftover inventory. When unsold costumes and decorations end up in landfills instead of being donated, it wastes resources and energy.

Many items contain plastics that take hundreds of years to break down. Plus, making new products for next season creates more carbon pollution that hurts our climate.

Is Spirit Halloween doing anything about this?

Spirit Halloween isn't a stranger to giving back to communities. The company runs the Spirit of Children program, which has raised over $127 million for child life departments at children's hospitals since 2007.

However, the company has not publicly talked about policies surrounding unsold merchandise disposal. The disconnect between promoting charitable giving and allegedly destroying usable products raises questions about corporate honesty.

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What can be done about seasonal retail waste more broadly?

Some retailers are already using better practices for handling unsold seasonal merchandise.

Target and Walmart gradually discount seasonal items, cutting down leftover inventory before looking at donation options, while retailer HalloweenCostumes.com keeps unsold items for year-round sales rather than trashing them.

Goodwill and other thrift stores accept seasonal decor donations, creating a circular economy for holiday items.

For shoppers worried about retail waste, buying secondhand costumes and decorations reduces demand for new products. Choosing high-quality, reusable Halloween items rather than single-use options also decreases seasonal waste.

Local community theaters, schools, and hospitals often welcome costume donations, creating better futures for seasonal items that might otherwise be thrown away.

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