Every November, people toss their jack-o’-lanterns in the trash, where the rotting shells turn landfills into quiet methane factories. A patchwork of local programs has started catching those pumpkins before they reach the dump, giving them a second life far from a trash bag. Some become garden compost, while others end up at a sanctuary where elephants treat them as a seasonal delicacy.
Pumpkins are mostly water, so they rot quickly once they reach the landfill. Packed under layers of other trash, they decompose in low-oxygen conditions unlike a backyard compost pile. Without that oxygen, they release methane instead of breaking down cleanly, and they keep at it for as long as the landfill holds them.
Few people think of a jack-o’-lantern as an active source of greenhouse gas once it sits at the curb, but methane has a global warming potential at least 28 times greater than carbon dioxide. That potency is what turns something as ordinary as a rotting pumpkin into a real climate problem once it lands in a landfill.
How big the problem actually is
Food scraps make up nearly a quarter of what ends up in American landfills, and because they decompose faster than almost anything else buried there, they account for more than half of the methane that escapes those landfills. Pumpkins are a seasonal spike inside that larger pattern, which is why a small number of programs have started running collection drives built specifically around them.
In Illinois, a nonprofit called SCARCE started its Pumpkin Smash events in 2014, and the idea has since spread across the state. Since then, the events have composted more than 1,600 tons of pumpkins, cutting nearly 1,200 tons of carbon dioxide emissions and keeping more than 345,000 gallons of water out of landfills. This year’s lineup includes smashes run with University of Illinois Extension, including one at a farm in Normal on Nov. 1 and another at Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin on Nov. 7. Compost isn’t the only place a pumpkin can end up, though.
From jack-o’-lantern to compost
Composting solves the landfill problem, as long as the pumpkin arrives clean. St. Louis Park, Minnesota, asks residents to remove wax and other decorations first, since they don’t break down like the rest of the pumpkin. It also keeps curbside yard-waste containers or bags under 40 pounds. The city’s separate Pitch-a-Pumpkin event at the Rec Center runs from Oct. 31 to Nov. 5 and takes pumpkins in a dedicated container with no listed weight limit.
Portland, Oregon, is one of the cities now folding pumpkins into its standard curbside pickup. Residents should scoop out melted wax before composting and skip painted pumpkins altogether. Pumpkins go in the same 60-gallon cart that takes fallen leaves and food scraps the rest of the year. If the cart can’t hold everything at once, residents can save the extras for the following week.
Sally Brown, a University of Washington professor who studies soil, compares good compost to clearing out a closet, since it lets water soak into the ground faster. A few months after collection, the pumpkin that once sat on someone’s porch is back in the ground, just in a different shape.
Pumpkins also become food for animals
A spent pumpkin can feed animals, but only the right ones. In early October, Colorado Parks and Wildlife urged people not to leave pumpkins out for wildlife, since they can draw bears into yards, and deer that stop to eat them can pull mountain lions into neighborhoods. Some ranches take pumpkins for livestock feed and some zoos may accept them, the agency said, but painted pumpkins and those with melted wax aren’t safe for animals to eat.
The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, turns that idea into an annual drive that returns this November. Last year’s drive ran Nov. 1 through 30 and accepted unpainted, uncarved pumpkins that weren’t decomposing. Donors dropped them behind the Elephant Discovery Center from Tuesday through Saturday, and caregivers carried them out to the elephants’ habitats, which stay closed to the public.
A pumpkin can still earn its keep
Not every pumpkin needs a sanctuary to avoid the trash. Colorado wildlife officials recommend composting pumpkins after Halloween or dropping them off at a community or food bank instead of leaving them outside. A city program helps, but the real choice comes earlier, when the candle goes out, and someone decides whether the pumpkin is trash or something more useful.
Jennifer Allen is a retired professional chef and long-time writer. Her work appears in dozens of publications, including MSN, Yahoo, The Washington Post and The Seattle Times. These days, she’s busy in the kitchen developing recipes and traveling the world, and you can find all her best creations at Cook What You Love.