From porch decor to pumpkin pulp, give your jack-o’-lanterns a smashing send-off this fall.
Local park districts and forest preserves are finding ways to give gourds a green goodbye as part of a regional composting effort in Will and DuPage counties.
Hidden Oaks pumpkin smash and post-Thanksgiving drop-off
Hidden Oaks Nature Center in Bolingbrook will host a family-friendly pumpkin smash event on Saturday, Nov. 7, from noon to 4 p.m. Kids and adults alike can throw their pumpkins off a balcony or beat them with a baseball bat.
The event will also feature s’mores and hot dog roasting over an open fire.
Pumpkin pieces will be taken to the Conservation Foundation’s McDonald Farm for composting.
New this year, Hidden Oaks will also have a Compostin’ Pumpkin Drop-Off on Saturday, Nov. 28, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Those pumpkins will remain at Hidden Oaks to be composted in a new compost station to be built by a local Eagle Scout.
Ron Ory pumpkin smash
The Naperville Park District is bringing back its annual pumpkin smash at the Ron Ory Community Garden Plots, 811 S. West St., on Saturday, Nov. 7, from 9 a.m. to noon.
Bring old pumpkins and jack-o’-lanterns without decorations or candles and smash them yourself, or have the park district dispose of them.
The park district said pumpkin compost helps enrich the soil in the community gardens.
Smashing pumpkins, not the planet
Pumpkin smashing events are one way residents can help protect the environment, according to a news release from the Forest Preserve District of Will County.
The Forest Preserve District is partnering with S.C.A.R.C.E., a nonprofit for environmental education, which has hosted regional pumpkin smashing events since 2014 to promote composting and keeping pumpkins out of landfills.
Brittany Schaller, an interpretive naturalist at Hidden Oaks, advised against dumping pumpkins in preserves, as they can harm wildlife.
“When humans put edible items in nature, it encourages animals to come together in one spot,” she said in the press release. “This changes wild animals’ day-to-day behavior. Congregating animals can even spread diseases to one another.”
Photo courtesy: Forest Preserve District of Will County
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