Green Disposal Options for Pumpkins and Fall Decorations

As Thanksgiving approaches, many of us are starting to remove the assortment of pumpkins, gourds, winter squash, cornstalks, hay bales, ornamental cabbage, and mums we used as fall and Halloween decorations. As a recycling enthusiast, I prefer to use green-options for fall waste cleanup as opposed to sending it all to a landfill.  

I’ve assembled some simple, eco-friendly tips for recycling and disposing of your fall decorations below.

Tips for recycling fall decorations

Setup a buffet – Our animal neighbors, large and small, love pumpkins.  The little fella’ pictured above couldn’t even wait until Halloween was over before digging into this stack. Rabbits, deer and livestock will gladly make meal of your surplus pumpkins.   Leave them whole, or chop them up, and place in a location where wildlife can help themselves. 

Also, check if local farms or agricultural organizations accept donations for their livestock. 

Cook ’em up – Pumpkin are a great source of beta carotene, which supports eye health, and Vitamins C and E.  Uncarved pumpkins are easily processed into puree for pies, pumpkin bread, soup and so much more. My current favorite uses are in pumpkin rolls and peanut butter pumpkin dog biscuits, which make great gifts. Check out Pumpkinlicious for some tasty recipe suggestions like Pumpkin Mocha Cupcakes. Yum.

One caveat, fresh pumpkins have a high-water content.  After cooking, I puree the cooled pumpkin pieces then put in a colander lined with coffee filters.  I sit the colander in a larger bowl and leave it in the refrigerator for a few hours to drain excess water.  Then, you’re ready for baking.   

Make “black gold” – Making your own compost is easy, saves money, and is a great source of organic material for gardens. Cut your gourds, cornstalks, and carved pumpkins into three – four-inch pieces and add to an existing compost pile or bin.  Cover with a layer of leaves and/or grass, and it will practically take care of itself.   

But, and I can’t emphasize this next part enough.  Make sure that your compost pile heats up enough in the spring to completely breakdown any pumpkin seeds before using. I know a girl who skipped this step once, and ended up with a pumpkin patch in her summer garden.     

Donate potted plants – Donate mums, sedum, coneflowers, ornamental grasses or any other fall potted plants used for outdoor decorations to gardeners.  I don’t plant my fall mums in the yard, but I have a neighbor who does. So this year, I kept them well-watered and offered them to her when I began setting up my Christmas decorations.  Contacting garden clubs, community gardens or even posting a Facebook post offering “free plants,” are all eco-friendly disposal options. 

If you live in Northeast U.S., confirm donation plans in early fall to give plant recipients time to dig a hole before the ground freezes.  A little pre-planning, and someone else can enjoy your gifted plants for years to come.  

More food for thought

Some of the most environmentally-friendly disposal options require some forethought before you purchase/plan your fall and Halloween decorations.

A few tips to consider:      

According to Mother Earth News, you can eat painted pumpkins, but only if they were decorated with lead-free paint and you completely remove the skins from the paint-covered sections before cooking. This is a personal preference, but if they’re painted, I choose not to eat or compost them.

When shopping for decorations, consider choosing pumpkin varieties that best suit your cooking and baking needs. For instance, large jack-o’-lantern pumpkins are best used for carving, not cooking, as they tend to be stringy.

When I selected most of my fall porch decorations at Stoltzfus Pumpkin Farms, I forgot to ask which of my choices were best for baking. A little pre-planning about what you plan to make with your pumpkins/winter squash may help guide your selections.         

I hope you’ve found these fall decoration disposal ideas useful. Before Thanksgiving dinner begins, consider donating, cooking or composting your fall decorations.  Give everyone, including our furry friends and neighbors, a little something extra to be thankful for this year.