BAKERSFIELD, CA. — If your pumpkins are starting to get old, we have some options for you before you toss them in the trash after the fall season.
“These kind of materials that go into making compost, they are very valuable for the earth. So really it's about diverting that waste away from the landfill and turning it into a vital resource is one of the most important things," Heath Emerson, Broadfork Acres.
Instead of tossing your pumpkins in the garbage, consider recycling, composting, or burying them to create rich fertilizer.
“Using pumpkins and other food waste that will be your green material so compost is a mixture of green materials and brown materials.. You would mix all of that together, make a pile on the ground, cover it with a tarp, periodically water it and turn it," said Emerson.
But if fertilizer isn't necessary for your household, you can decorate with your pumpkins.
"You can actually use the shell as a vase for decoration. So just because fall is over Christmas is still coming up.. and it will make a great center piece. Uou can carve out everything inside the middle of it and the shell can be filled with soil and you can plant succulents, which don't require much water," said Meagan Emerson, Broadfork Acres.
Composting helps reduce landfill waste.
"While food and organic material, including food scraps, culled inventory, and manufacturing materials, are natural by-products of everyday life, 60 million tons of food is wasted in the U.S. alone, with food and organics making up 30% of our waste stream," says Waste Management.
For more information on food and organic recycling, visit the Waste Management website.
