Oct. 19—DIXON — Fall is the pumpkin’s time to shine. But what happens when it’s time to say goodbye?
Make your Halloween green by recycling pumpkins into compost during a free outdoor Pumpkin Smash event presented by the University of Illinois Extension and Sauk Valley Community College.
Pumpkins are organic waste that produce the powerful greenhouse gas methane when they decompose in landfills without oxygen. These rotting pumpkins also leak water that filters through the waste piles and pollutes nearby waterways.
Instead, choose to smash and recycle Halloween pumpkins during this community event. The broken pumpkins are composted in the SVCC field soil to grow next year’s pumpkins. Since 2019, when the Illinois Extension hosted the state’s first series of Pumpkin Smash events, more than 50 tons of compostable waste has been kept out of landfills.
Bring your pumpkin without candles, paint, ribbons or other non-organic materials to the SVCC pumpkin patch Saturday, November 2 from 10 a.m. to noon. Then choose a fun way to dispose of your used gourd, including using a hammer, club, slingshot, or slingshot; dropping it; or use it as a piñata. Children are also invited to participate in other free pumpkin-themed activities.
The college is located at 173 Route 2, Dixon.
