Carnival Costumes Get a Sustainable Makeover as Efforts Grow to Reduce Environmental Impact

The lively carnival celebrations are all about flamboyant costumes, brightly colored parades, and explosive parties. This year's Trinidad Carnival, however, has a special theme: sustainability. While large mobs of partygoers converge, attempts are being made to minimize the major environmental impact left in the wake of thrown-away carnival costumes and materials. 

Carnivals have traditionally been a place where creativity is presented, yet the damage they cause to the environment gets little attention. Every year, there are tens of thousands of costumes that are discarded after the festivals, which amounts to a huge amount of waste. In Trinidad, the carnival itself generates an estimated 3.4 tonnes of waste from costumes that are made of feathers, beads, and synthetic materials. These materials are usually burned or dumped into landfills once the festivals are over, with questions about their long-term effect on the environment.

In turn, an increasing number of organizations are coming forward to drive sustainability in the carnival sector. One such example is Carnicycle, a business established by Danii McLetchie and Luke Harris. Since the last seven years, Carnicycle has specialized in recycling carnival costumes. The process operates through gathering unused or discarded costumes from hotels, masquerade bands, and other establishments, then meticulously removing reusable parts like feathers and beads. They are then marketed to designers and actors to produce fresh costumes, decreasing the demand for new resources.

Carnicycle's initiatives also involve leasing out big, usually expensive backpack-type costume pieces. Instead of having partygoers buy and keep these large items, they can lease them, use them for the party, and return them afterwards. This cuts down considerably on the waste produced by the party, particularly from pricey costumes that may only be used for a few hours.

Yet another project, 2nd Closet, initiated by lawyer-designer couple Aliyah Clarke and Kaleen Sanois, extends the cause of sustainability to the carnival community as well. The initiative runs a pop-up thrift store, creating a platform for carnival attendees to sell and purchase second-hand attire. 2nd Closet also provides video lessons to teach individuals how to upcycle old carnival costumes into beachwear or casual wear. The firm also offers a closet-sorting service, and this assists people in sorting out their unwanted clothes to resell, so that clothes do not go to waste.

Such attempts towards sustainability aren't exclusive to recycling costumes. There are other attempts being made at carnival parties and events across the world. For instance, Fete with the Saints, a well-known carnival party, has gone green by using biodegradable spoons and cups which are reusable. Also, they use "bin detectives" to help guests sort their waste correctly so that recyclable and compostable materials don't go into landfills. This focus on sustainability has kept more than one million single-use plastic products from adding to waste in the past two years.

Such events are perfect platforms to impart knowledge about living sustainably. With carnival parties still drawing heavy crowds, the message of recycling and reusing can reach the thousands, especially young party-goers who care more about such issues. Including sustainability in these events is bringing people to reevaluate their green footprint, both at the carnival and in daily life.

The growing emphasis on sustainability in the carnival world is a wider global tendency towards more environmentally friendly events. With more and more obvious environmental impact of big-scale festivities and celebrations being felt, individuals are looking for methods to minimize waste and green their celebrations. The Trinidad carnival and other carnivals across the globe are proving that it's not necessary to give up the excitement and enjoyment of such events in order to reduce their adverse effect on the environment.

The initiatives of companies such as Carnicycle and 2nd Closet are paving the way for a greener future for carnival festivities, and they are making waves. More people and organizations entering the recycling and upcycling line will continue to see the carnival business adapt to the increasing demand for green measures.

Since those sustainable attempts escalate, other event industries and large-scale events in general gain insight from following them as the standards for being at once profitable yet environmentally, humanely friendly.
The favorable turn of affairs being witnessed with carnival industries also generates a glimpse into the destiny that awaits gigantic-size events worldwide to be achieved for the rest.

Source: This article is based on a general overview of sustainability efforts in carnival celebrations, drawing from current practices and ongoing initiatives in Trinidad and other global carnival events.