Compost your jack-o’-lanterns or drop them off at pumpkin plops, chucks, and other collection events in Michigan

They’re chucking pumpkins on a catapult at a park in Grand Ledge operated by the Eaton County Parks and Recreation Department, plopping pumpkins at Michigan State University, and feeding them to animals in Delhi Township.

A pumpkin loaded in a catapult at a park in Grand Ledge. Courtesy Eaton Co. Parks & Rec.

Increasingly, Michigan municipalities and others are offering ways to dispose of jack-o’-lanterns and whole pumpkins so they don’t end up in a landfill.

Every year, Americans throw away over 1 billion pounds of pumpkins destined for landfills where they decompose and generate methane gas that contributes to climate change. Michigan produces 79 million pounds of pumpkins every year, ranking fourth in the nation.

Instead of tossing your whole or jack-o’-lantern pumpkins in the trash, consider these alternatives to use them in a more sustainable way.

• Drop-off pumpkins and jack-o’- lanterns at community collection sites that will compost them. Check with area municipalities and universities for special Halloween-related drop-off sites. Also, check the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s (EGLE)  recycling directory that lists locations that take food scraps. (Just type " food scraps" into the field where it says, "What are you looking to recycle?" Before taking your jack-o'-lantern there, be sure to verify the location’s collection details and policies.)
• Find a commercial food waste collection service that will pick up pumpkins and other food scraps from your home for composting. Food waste collector My Green Michigan was highlighted in an EGLE video.
• Make it a tasty snack for wildlife by just letting it be in your garden or a wooded area in your yard.
• Aaron Hiday of EGLE’s Materials Management Division encourages Michiganders to compost their pumpkins if they have the space. “You can mix your pumpkins with your fall leaves in a bin to create compost that will help nourish your own soil next spring,” he says. EGLE’s handy guide, Home Composting: Reap a Heap of Benefits, provides helpful information, and more composting tips are highlighted in this EGLE video.

To learn more about composting, visit Michigan.gov/EGLECompost. To learn more about food recovery, visit Michigan.gov/FoodWaste.