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What to Do with Halloween Pumpkins

Updated: September 29, 2024

This Halloween Americans will send more than 2 billion pounds of pumpkins to landfills. When pumpkins break down in landfills they produce methane, a greenhouse gas that's 20x more detrimental than carbon dioxide. And then there’s all the water, energy, transportation, time and effort that go into growing those pumpkins and getting them to your doorstep for Halloween. (Source: pumpkinsforthepeople.org)

How to Keep Your Halloween Pumpkin Out of a Landfill

Donate to a Local Farm

The nonprofit Pumpkins for Pigs' mission is to match pigs and other pumpkin-eating animals with un-carved (some farms will accept carved pumpkins), non-inked/non-painted pumpkins to prevent them from being thrown in the landfill. Donated pumpkins are excellent feed and a wonderful treat to the animals on the farms and sanctuaries. Pumpkins also make great compost. Thanksgiving comes up and we start moving to the next holiday but often our pumpkins are in perfectly fine shape, and its a waste to throw them out when they are still useful to feed the animals.

From October through mid-December you are encouraged to donate your un-carved, non-inked/non-painted pumpkins to your local farm or sanctuary. Find a local farm where you can drop off your pumpkin at the Pumpkins for Pigs web site.

Compost Your Pumpkin

Organic waste, such as pumpkins and other fruits and vegetables, cannot break down effectively when it ends up in a landfill. It's better to compost your pumpkin at home, where it will break down into nutrients that can be used to enhance your soil. Every part of a pumpkin is compostable — skin, meat, stem, guts and seeds.

Here are the basic instuctions for composting your pumpkin:

1. Be sure to remove any glitter, stickers, candles and any other decorations from your pumpkin before adding to your compost pile or bin.
2. Smash or break the pumpkin into small pieces so that it will break down more easily.
3. Add some carbon based materials to your compost pile (dried leaves, fruit and vegetable peels, small bits of wood, bark dust or sawdust pellets, shredded brown paper bags, corn stalks, coffee filters, coffee grounds, conifer needles, egg shells, straw, peat moss, wood ash).
4. Keep your compost from drying out by adding moisture, and turn it regularly to introduce oxygen.

If you don't have a compost pile, you may be able to find a compost pick-up service near you at Where to Compost on the Litterless web site.

Bring Your Pumpkin to a Pumpkin Smashing Event

Many cities throughout the United States have started after Halloween "Pumpkin Smashing" events. These events offer a way for participating communities to divert pumpkins from landfills by providing locations for residents to drop-off their jack-o-lanterns to be composted.

2024 Pumpkin Smashing Events

•	Illinois (various cities): SCARCE.org
•	New York: NY Hudson River Park

Cook Up Some Delicious Foods with Your Halloween Pumpkin

Carved pumpkins are wasted food. You won't be able to use the pulp for cooking if you carve your Halloween pumpkins and use them as jack o' lanterns, so it's better if you leave the pumpkins whole and decorate them with vinyl stickers or specially designed foam stickers if you want to use them as decorations. Pumpkins decorated with stickers can be just as festive as carved ones, and children can still have a lot of fun decorating the pumpkins with stickers instead of carving them (and it's a lot safer, too!)

You won't be able to use the pulp for cooking if you carve the pumpkin to use as a jack o' lantern.

Use Your Uncarved Pumpkin to Make Pumpkin Puree

When all of the witches, ghosts and goblins have gone away, you'll be able to make lots of delicious foods with the pumpkin that you've saved from the landfill (uncarved pumpkins can last up to 12 weeks before they start to rot). The basic ingredient for most pumpkin based recipes is pumpkin puree.

How to Make Pumpkin Puree

1. If you decorated your pumpkin with stickers, simply remove them before proceeding and remove any sticky residue. If you're starting with a painted pumpkin, you need to wash or scrape off all of the paint.
2. Remove the stem by pulling off or use a knife to cut a sliver off the top of the pumpkin (including the stem).
3. Cut your pumpkins in half or quarters, depending on the size.
4. Using a spoon or an ice cream scoop, remove the seeds and stringy fibers from the center. Rinse the bunches of seeds and fiberss under cool water to separate the seeds from the fibers. Make a vgetable stock by placing the fibers into a stock pot with any vegetables you have on hand (onions, carrots, celery, garlic, mushrooms). Add a couple of bay leaves, cover with water and simmer for about an hour (stir occasionally). Dry out the seeds and set them out for birds or roast them to eat yourself.
5. If you started with a very large pumpkin, you might have to cut it into smaller pieces so that they're about 6 inches wide and 6 inches high.
6. Lay the pieces, flesh side down, on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake in a 400° oven for 30 to 45 minutes or until the pumpkin pulp is tender.
7. Once the baked pieces cool down (about an hour), separate the pulp from the skin by using a large spoon or ice cream scoop. Use the skin as compost if you have a compost pile or compost bin.
8. Place the pumpkin pieces into a blender or food processor a few at a time and start to puree until smooth. You might have to add some water to get the puree to a good consistency (you can also place the pumpkin pulp into a bowl and mash with a potato masher to make your puree).
9. If you don't want to use the puree immediately, it can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or you can place it into a plastic bag or container and store it in the freezer until you're ready to use it.

The puree that you make from your pumpkin is going to be much less dense than the canned pumpkin that you find at a grocery store, so you might have to tweak any recipes that you find by reducing the amount of liquids listed in the recipe ingredients.

You can thicken your puree by placing a large mesh strainer over a bowl with a cheesecloth under it. Put your puree into the strainer and press with a spoon or spatula to release water.

What You Can Make with Pumpkin Puree

Here's a list of links to recipes that use pumpkin puree:

•	Pumpkin French Toast
•	Pumpkin Spice Latte
•	Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
•	Pumpkin Pancakes
•	Homemade Fresh Pumpkin Pie
•	Pumpkin Bread
•	Pumpkin Soup (you won't have to make puree before cooking this recipe)

Almost all of the recipes above also include links to instructions on how to make pumpkin puree.