Think twice before dumping your Halloween pumpkins in the trash. Here are four suggestions for recycling them:

• 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 recycling pumpkins is important:

1) Little Compton currently spends almost $110,000 annually on trash disposal. This cost is based on weight. Pumpkins are heavy!

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 8 to 12 weeks in a compost bin (if chopped up).

To reduce food waste and save landfill space, please consider a backyard compost bin. Little Compton residents can purchase it for $45 at the Little Compton Town Hall and pick it up at the Little Compton Transfer Station. In addition to pumpkins, toss fruit, vegetable, and grain-based food scraps collected in a countertop food waste container into your bin. 

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.