"Don't Trash It Smash It"
Fall is the pumpkin’s time to shine, but what happens when it is time to say goodbye to the short-lived Jack-o-lanterns? Green your Halloween by recycling pumpkins into compost at a free outdoor Pumpkin Smash event held across Illinois in early November.
Be part of the solution. Everyone can help fight climate change
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, polluting 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 1,600 tons of pumpkins, reduced greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 1,200 tons of carbon dioxide, and diverted over 345,000 gallons of water from landfills. Find a full map of Illinois Pumpkin Smashes on their website SCARCE.org/Pumpkins.
Pumpkin Smash Instructions
- Find a smash event site near you below or at SCARCE.org/Pumpkins.
- Collect pumpkins from the home, neighborhood, school, or workplace.
- Remove candles, ribbons, paint, and any other non-organic materials.
- Drop off pumpkins at a smash site on the date and time of the specific event. Each site may vary in the available methods for smashing or depositing pumpkins.
- The pumpkins are transported to a composting facility following the event.