Nearly two billion pounds of pumpkins are grown each year in the U.S. But we actually don’t eat the vast majority of them. Instead, most pumpkins are carved or otherwise decorated, and placed on porches across the country during Halloween. But now that the holiday has come and gone, what happens to all those sagging masterpieces?
Simply put, we usually just throw them out. In the days after Halloween, as much as 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkin winds up in landfills. When left there to decompose, the pumpkins produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas that affects climate change by contributing to increased warming.
Here are some ways to keep pumpkins out of the landfills this year and make Halloween festivities more sustainable.
If the pumpkin is still in good shape, use the outer, meaty part of the pumpkin to make a fresh version of pumpkin puree. Pumpkin puree is a common ingredient in baked goods like muffins, breads, and pies, especially during this time of the year. The pumpkin seeds can also be scooped out, rinsed, and salted or spiced, and then baked in the oven, resulting in a delicious snack.
Pumpkins also have the potential to turn into great soil through composting. Pumpkins are just over 90% water, which help naturally add moisture to compost piles that need to be damp to effectively decompose food waste.
If eating or composting the pumpkins isn’t an option, consider donating them to a local farm. Farmers will often collect pumpkins as treats for their pigs, goats, and other animals.
The scariest part of Halloween shouldn’t be the waste.
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Web Links
Say Boo to Landfills – Compost Your Pumpkin After Halloween!
Photo, posted November 4, 2010, courtesy of William Warby via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio
This pumpkin clip fosters one of the very misunderstood aspects of organic ‘waste’. It is true if it is put in a land fill it will rot and release greenhouse gasses. But no matter what you do with it, the same processes happen. Whether you compost it, feed it to pigs or eat it yourself [as suggested in this clip] green house gasses will be released in exactly the same amount.
And what is more problematic is that this totally ignores the fact that the organic ‘waste’ has just ‘absorbed’ an equal amount of these gasses when it is growing so that the sum result is ZERO addition to the climate change problem. Mother Nature has figured out recycling this was a long time ago. The same with all kinds of plant and animal matter.
The issue is ENTIRELY about fossil fuels which have been stored for millenium, not the release of gasses that were recently [within the last century or two]. These are part of the normal recycling of water, carbon and other minerals.
I applaud the attempt to bring consciousness to these processes in the general public, but please don’t do it by spreading false ‘facts’ that just confuse the real issue. jac