Don’t let your Halloween waste haunt you! Compost your pumpkins:
Saturday, November 4
9 a.m. – noon
City of Elmhurst Public Works Garage, 985 S. Riverside Dr.
If you don’t have a backyard compost bin, drop your pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns at the City of Elmhurst Public Works Garage on Sat., Nov. 4. All pumpkins collected are taken to commercial composting facilities and turned into rich nutrients for our soil.
Remove all candles and decorations before dropping off. Pumpkins are only accepted from 9 a.m. – noon unless otherwise noted. For more information, visit the SCARCE website.
Why should you compost pumpkins?
- They are full of nutrients that are good for the soil.
- They are 90% water — good for our soil, bad for our landfills.
- Most of the pumpkins processed in the United States are grown in Illinois – keep the water and nutrients here!
- Landfills are the 3rd largest producers of methane gas, created by decomposing organics.
In 2014, Wheaton, Elmhurst and SCARCE hosted the first pumpkin recycling collections in DuPage County. This collection composted 9.31 tons of pumpkins and helped to improve composting laws in Illinois. By 2016 the Pumpkin Smash grew to over 31 sites across the state. To date, SCARCE has diverted over 93 tons of pumpkins from landfills!
To help spread the word, use this customized sheet to advertise pumpkin composting to the community. Copy the sheet, cut it down to size, and drop event cards in trick-or-treat bags. Happy Halloween!