Decorate now, recycle later.
Whether picking out pumpkins from a field or carving fun faces into them with friends, pumpkins show everyone it’s the fall season. What happens when it’s time to say goodbye as they melt on the porch?
Green up Halloween by recycling pumpkins into compost at a free, outdoor Pumpkin Smash
offered from: 9:00 a.m. to Noon on Nov. 8 at Veterans Park in Macomb.
No cost or registration is required to attend.
For questions or if you need an accommodation, contact the event coordinator Chris Enroth at cenroth@illinois.edu or (309) 837-3939.
Find the full list of Extension Pumpkin Smash events happening across the state in early November at go.illinois.edu/PumpkinSmash.
About Pumpkin Smash
Pumpkins are an organic waste that produces the potent greenhouse gas methane as they decompose without oxygen in landfills. These decaying pumpkins also leach water that filters through the trash piles and pollutes nearby waterways.
This project is done in collaboration with SCARCE, an Illinois environmental non-profit that started Pumpkin Smashes in 2014. Since their start, the efforts have composted over 1,250 tons of pumpkins, reduced greenhouse gas emissions by over 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide, and diverted over 300,000 gallons of water from landfills. Find a full map of Illinois Pumpkin Smashes on their website at SCARCE.org/Pumpkins.