With autumn in full swing and Halloween behind us, it’s the perfect time to give your pumpkins a second life through pumpkin composting!
Each year, Americans toss more than a billion pounds of pumpkins into the trash, but composting them keeps organic waste out of landfills and incinerators while creating nutrient-rich soil for our communities.
Howard County, MD, makes it easy to take part through the Harvest Heap program:
- Drop off pumpkins at Alpha Ridge Landfill or Robinson Nature Center.
- Howard County residents participating in the Feed the Green Bin food scrap collection program can set pumpkins out on their regular food scrap collection day
- Join Pumpkin Palooza at the Miller Branch Library Saturday, November 22 from 11:00am to 2:00pm where there will be games, crafts, food trucks, and of course, pumpkin composting!
Likewise, Baltimore County is hosting a Great Pumpkin Smash this Saturday, November 8, at Eastern Regional Park in Middle River. Residents can “experience the singular joy of supervised destruction” of their pumpkins – or just drop them off – before their pumpkins become part of the County’s compost pile at Eastern Sanitary Landfill.
If you’re a resident of Prince George’s County, you can put out your pumpkins as well as dried corn, hay, and stray with your yard waste for the County to pick up and compost, or drop them off at Brown Station Road Residential Convenience Center. In Baltimore City, you can drop off your pumpkins at the nearest DPW Food Scrap Drop-Off location, as well as any other food scraps in your kitchen. Every jurisdiction in Maryland has different policies, so be sure to check with yours – or just compost your pumpkins at home!
By participating in pumpkin composting, you are contributing to a greener, more sustainable Maryland. You are not only reducing the burden on landfills and incinerators, but also helping enrich soil, promote local agriculture, and support a healthier environment.
Spread the word to friends and neighbors, and if you’d like to get more involved in local composting efforts, feel free to reach out!
