Elgin Residents Invited To Smash Pumpkins At Composting Event

ELGIN, IL — The City of Elgin will offer people an opportunity to smash the daylights out of their old pumpkins during a composting event from 9 a.m. to noon —or until the collection container is full — on Saturday, Nov. 3, in the parking lot located on the southwest corner of Grove Avenue and Kimball Street in Elgin.

Elgin is among many communities participating in the free, one-day annual collection event. Last year's collection event in Elgin composted 2.96 tons of pumpkins — a big increase from the 0.87 tons in 2016.

Volunteers will be available to help transfer pumpkins from vehicles to the collection container. Pumpkins and other gourds will be accepted, and all decorations and candles must be removed.

The City of Elgin Sustainability Commission is hosting the event in cooperation with Waste Management, SCARCE (School & Community Assistance for Recycling & Composting Education) and Kane County recycling.

The event is part of a collaborative effort across communities to both keep pumpkins out of landfills and also educate residents on the benefits of composting.

According to SCARCE’s website, there are several reasons to keep pumpkins out of the landfill:

• They are full of nutrients that are good for the soil.
• They are 90 percent water.
• Most of the pumpkins processed in the US are grown in Illinois – keep the water and nutrients here.
• Decomposing organics make landfills the third largest producers of methane.
• Composting returns nutrients and water back to the earth.

In 2014, Wheaton, Elmhurst and SCARCE hosted the first pumpkin recycling collections. The collection was a huge success that composted 9.31 tons of pumpkins and helped to improve composting laws in Illinois. The collection has since expanded to more than 30 locations throughout the suburbs.

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