The composting company Atlas Organics has organized a “Dump Your Pumpkins” event in at Urban Earth in Memphis, taking place November 6th and 7th.
More than 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkin waste end up in landfills every year. After the trick-or-treaters trickle back home to drool over their hard-earned hoards, the candles in the gutted gourds of Jack-o-lanterns are snuffed out and the once-plump pumpkins can serve no further purpose. Or, can they?
It’s one of the primary rules of monster movies — the monster always returns. Like a clawed hand emerging from a previously tranquil lake, festive pumpkins and Jack-o-lanterns can be given a new life after the holidays — as compost. The benefits of compost are legion. It helps build good soil structure, helps soil retain nutrients, protects against drought, and helps feed earthworms and microbial life in the soil. That’s certainly preferable to rotting in a landfill.
“The composting event is a first for Atlas Organics,” says Stefan Holt, vice president of marketing for Atlas Organics. But, he says, the company hopes to make composting events like this a staple in the future.
Dump Your Pumpkin at Urban Earth, November 6 and 7, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.