Don’t throw the pumpkin in the trash, compost it!
The Halloween season isn't complete without pumpkins, but how you dispose of those pumpkins is what has climate change advocates worried.
Desert Compost is a community program made up of a group of volunteers that composts scraps of food. This Halloween it's trying to spread awareness that you can help with climate change by composting your pumpkins.
“Composting pumpkins is just a really fun way for people to get introduced to composting," explained Haley Preston, the Director of Desert Compost. "Your pumpkins are going to decompose no matter what, but they’re going to decompose better in a compost pile.”
According to Preston, when you throw a pumpkin away in the trash it heads to the landfill where it sits. While it decomposes in a landfill it takes a long time, and meanwhile, methane which is contributing to climate change is released from the pumpkin.
The United State Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy states that methane is a harmful greenhouse gas, with more than 20 times the warming effect of carbon dioxide.
The alternative to trashing the pumpkin is creating a composting pile to put the pumpkin and any other scraps of food.
Justin Watt who is a volunteer with Desert Compost said all someone needs are dead branches, sticks, leaves, or anything that is brown along with water and time.
You can find more instructions on how to compost at home on The United States Environmental Protection Agency website.
If you don't want to learn how to compost yourself, Desert Compost said it will help to ensure the pumpkins help the environment.
It is going to be having a pumpkin smash event with a local childcare facility. You can drop your pumpkins off at the Rancho Mirage Farmers market on Friday, November 4 so they can be composted.
