There is nothing so lovely in the fall next to leaf-peeping than gazing at wide-open fields full of pumpkins in all sizes and shapes. The bulbous, bountiful gourd may well be the unofficial mascot of October (and, with holiday pie season hot on its heels, November, too), but you might be surprised to learn that far more gourds wind up in the trash than on tables or, even better, composted.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, in the U.S. alone we purchase over a billion pumpkins a year across every state of the union. But, once their proclivity for porch-side autumn decor is traded to twinkly lights and wreaths, a shocking amount of them wind up in landfills — most of the billion, as a matter of fact.
The problem with tossing your pumpkin in the garbage is a decomposing pumpkin (even worse if it’s in a plastic garbage bag) is, in a landfill, they are buried under layers of other trash. With little access to necessary oxygen, as the pumpkins break down, the bacteria byproduct produced is methane gas — which, if you haven’t heard, isn’t terrific for the ozone, putting gagging pollutants into the air and atmosphere.
The good news: You can avoid this easily. If you aren’t into cutting up and cooking your pumpkins then do the simple thing: compost ’em. That can be as easy as doing it in your own backyard (smashing your Halloween pumpkin is not only the best way to help it break down, it’s also super fun if you’ve never given it a go) or heading to a local farm or other designated compost site.
Most pumpkins wind up in landfills buried under trash bags and producing harmful methane gas. You can help fix this! (Photo courtesy of ReWild Long Island)
This year, the non-profit ReWild Long Island, whose mission is to help our local communities improve their ecosystem’s resilience as well as educate Long Islanders on how to adapt sustainable practices, has put together several pumpkin (and general food scrap) composting sites for you to bring your gourds when they’re decorative usefulness is gone. But remember: they must not contain paint, glue, glitter, wax or bleach; those things don’t exactly go back into the earth. Plain pumpkins, please, at any of these North and South Fork sites…
Share the Harvest Farm, 55 Long Lane, East Hampton
Drop off pumpkins and other gourds on Friday, Nov. 7 and Saturday, Nov. 8 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (and check out their cute little farm stand while you’re at it).
MTK Community Garden, 9 S. Edison St., Montauk
Accepting all great gourds on Saturday, Nov. 8 from 10 a.m. until noon.
Amber Waves Farm, 367 Main St., Amagansett
Head over to Amber Waves, the nonprofit teaching farm with a heart, and give those gourds back to the earth on Friday, Nov. 7 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. and on Saturday, Nov. 8 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Deep Roots Farm, 57685 Main Road, Southold
Plop your pumpkins seven days a week during daylight hours at this organic-minded spot in Southold.
Golden Acres Farm, 652 Peconic Bay Blvd., Riverhead
We love this beautiful multi-acre spot dedicated to organic farming. They welcome you to bring any compostable materials to their farm, pumpkins included.
