Sustainable Pumpkin Disposal Tips + Tricks for the ‘Spooky’ Holiday Season

This holiday season, take a more sustainable approach to your disposal of your pumpkins once they have flattened out.

We are in the full swing of Fall in Colorado and pumpkin carving season is here! The act of carving a pumpkin and setting it outside is something that brings people joy, no matter the age. But where do these pumpkins go after Halloween? According to Waste Dive, 1 billion pounds of pumpkins end up in the landfill each year. When tossed in the trash, pumpkins release methane into the atmosphere and contribute to our greenhouse gas emissions. While they are wonderful sitting on our front step, they are unfortunately wreaking havoc in our landfills. How can we divert these pumpkins from being tossed in the trash?

The most popular ways to properly dispose of your pumpkins is to toss them into your backyard, at home compost or city compost bin. The pumpkins will be eaten by the natural wildlife or decompose into the soil. When disposed of in your city compost bin, it is sent to a facility to be made into compost. Pumpkins consist of 90% water and are filled with nutrients that are super beneficial for our ecosystem!

If you don’t have a yard or compost bin, Denver Recycles will accept pumpkins at their seasonal LeafDrop program. This program is put on every year to encourage Denver residents to drop off their leaves and pumpkins to be turned into compost. The compost is then available in May for residents to purchase at a discount price for their gardens. This program eliminates the number of pumpkins and leaves that end up in the landfill each fall. The LeafDrop program takes place at a few different locations around Denver. Visit Denver’s LeafDrop page to find a location near you!

https://www.wastedive.com/news/oh-my-gourd-13b-pounds-of-pumpkins-reach-landfills-every-year/408341/