Please think twice before dumping your Halloween pumpkins in the trash and, instead, recycle them! Here are four recycling suggestions:
• Chop the pumpkin into smaller pieces (to speed up …
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Please think twice before dumping your Halloween pumpkins in the trash and, instead, recycle them! Here are four recycling suggestions:
• Chop the pumpkin into smaller pieces (to speed up composting) before putting it in your compost bin to turn it into a nutrient-rich garden amendment.
• Let the pumpkin decompose in a corner of your yard; you may be rewarded with another pumpkin vine next year!
• Place the pumpkin in a wooded area where squirrels and deer will feast on it.
• Dig a hole about 10 inches deep in your garden and bury the pumpkin (preferably chopped into chunks). A feast for worms and bugs, if not your plants!
Here’s why making the effort to recycle pumpkins is important:
1: The cost of trash disposal is based on weight. Pumpkins are heavy! Little Compton currently spends almost $110,000 annually on trash disposal.
2: Pumpkins in the trash count as food waste. Food waste steals about one third of limited landfill space. A pumpkin can take over 20 years to decompose in a landfill, compared to eight to 12 weeks in a compost bin (if chopped up).
To reduce food waste and save landfill space, please consider a backyard compost bin. You can purchase it for $45 at the Little Compton Town Hall and pick it up at the transfer station. In addition to pumpkins, toss fruit, vegetable and grain-based food scraps collected in a countertop food waste container into your bin (Alternatively, you can take both plant and animal food scraps to the green Black Earth composting bins at the transfer station, near the electronics recycling area).
Rhode Island's Food, Climate & Environment Program encourages everyone to compost food waste. To that end, the Little Compton Garden Club supports a public education and awareness campaign. We can be proud that Little Compton was recently cited in a Municipal Composting Readiness Report as one of the top five Rhode Island municipalities making excellent progress in promoting and executing a town-wide composting program. Thanks to all who are responding to this initiative. As a town with a culture inclined towards environmental efforts, our individual and collective efforts will make a difference in a happier future for our children and grandchildren.
Nancy Clark
Little Compton
Clark is a member of the Little Compton Garden Club