SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – This year’s Halloween celebration is the first to happen under California’s new Organic Recycling law, and that means everyone is legally required to compost all those pumpkins they decorated or carved for the holiday.
Jeanne Patton, the Recycling Specialist for the City of San Diego’s Environmental Services Department, said doing that will go a long way towards helping the environment.
“When that material goes into a landfill, it's producing a tremendous amount of methane,” Patton said. “That contributes to climate change. In fact, methane is significantly worse than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat. So simply by getting the correct material in the correct bin that helps us to combat climate change.”
The U.S. throws away an estimated 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkin every year.
But recycling a pumpkin isn’t as easy as throwing it in the green bins that cities gave out over the last couple of years.
First, take off any stickers, whether decorative or from the grocery store. The plastic in those stickers won’t break down.
Next, take out any lights or candles, and scrape out all the wax that may have spilled on the inside.
And finally, remove all decorations from the outside of your pumpkin. That includes any glitter or paint. You can either scrape the top layer off or cut out the parts with paint on them.
There are also some easy ways to avoid the mess of dumping a pumpkin directly in the green bin.
“There is a concern about the ‘ick’ factor, or of things getting sticky in the green bin, or odors,” said Patton.
She said the best way to fight that is to put your pumpkin in a large paper bag when you’re ready to toss it. And layer the bottom of your green bin with yard trimmings like leaves and grass before you put the bagged pumpkin in.
“That really helps act as a buffer for any type of gunk that might be on your food scraps,” she said.
All the organic material collected by the City of San Diego goes to the Miramar Greenery, where it is turned into compost. Residents can get up to 2 cubic yards for free to use around their homes.
“Then, maybe, they can grow their own pumpkins next year!” adds Patton.
It’s a simple way to follow the new rules, and make sure Halloween Jack-O-Lanterns don’t turn into junk.
