Rotting Away

Last November, hundreds of people dropped off old pumpkins and shriveled jack-o’-lanterns at the parking lot of Downers Grove South High School in Illinois. Student volunteers tossed the gourds into a trash bin, while others standing inside the container used baseball bats to smash the pumpkins. “It was a little messy,” says 18-year-old Katherine Wilkinson. But it was also a lot of fun—even though she ended up with globs of mashed pumpkin in her hair!

Last November, hundreds of people came to the parking lot of Downers Grove South High School in Illinois. They dropped off old pumpkins and dried-up jack-o’-lanterns. Student volunteers tossed the gourds into a trash bin. Others stood inside the container and smashed the pumpkins with baseball bats. “It was a little messy,” says 18-year-old Katherine Wilkinson. It was also a lot of fun. But she did end up with globs of mashed pumpkin in her hair!

Events similar to this one, called Pumpkin Smash, are held around the country after Halloween. The reason is to protect the environment. Every year, 650,000 tons of pumpkins end up in landfills in the U.S. That’s equal to the weight of about 16,250 semi trucks. When buried in a landfill, pumpkins decompose, or break down, releasing methane. This greenhouse gas traps heat in Earth’s atmosphere, causing the planet’s average temperature to increase.

Last year, students at Downers Grove South High School collected almost 4 tons of pumpkins. Instead of being tossed in the trash, the gourds were composted. This process turns rotting organic matter into nutrients that can help plants grow—without producing harmful methane. It’s a win-win! By keeping your next jack-o’-lantern out of a landfill, you can help the planet too. “We can all be champions of the environment,” says Kay McKeen, the founder of SCARCE, an organization that helps coordinate Pumpkin Smash events throughout Illinois.

The event is called Pumpkin Smash. Ones like it are held around the country after Halloween. The reason is to protect the environment. Every year, 650,000 tons of pumpkins end up in landfills in the U.S. That’s the weight of about 16,250 semitrucks. Pumpkins decompose when buried in a landfill. As they break down, they release methane. This greenhouse gas traps heat in Earth’s atmosphere and causes the planet’s average temperature to increase.

Students at Downers Grove South High School collected almost 4 tons of pumpkins last year. The gourds weren’t tossed in the trash. Instead, they were composted. This process turns rotting organic matter into nutrients to help plants grow. And it doesn’t produce harmful methane. It’s a win-win! You can help the planet too, by keeping your next jack-o’-lantern out of a landfill. Kay McKeen is the founder of SCARCE, an organization that helps plan Pumpkin Smash events across Illinois. She says, “We can all be champions of the environment.”