Pumpkin Problems
While your pumpkins are fresh, like these ones, cook them up in time for Thanksgiving! Photo Courtesy of Chloe Schlegel
November 17, 2022
What’s Halloween without a glowing pumpkin on the front porch? Every fall, millions of people around the world buy pumpkins to paint or carve for their front porch. After Halloween, most of the pumpkins will go to the landfill.
About 40 million pounds of edible pumpkin waste is thrown away yearly, on top of the 108 billion pounds of food waste already produced in America alone. When organic waste decomposes in landfills, it creates methane gas and greenhouse gases. This many pumpkins decomposing in landfills can cause a spike in these gases being produced.
A way to help this problem is by using the pumpkins for baking or adding the pumpkin into a compost. When the pumpkin is in a compost, the methane gas is significantly reduced.
Next year, when your family buys pumpkins, try putting them in a place where they can be eaten by wildlife or decompose naturally. This is a big problem with an easy solution!
