Don’t Waste Halloween

November 1st - 22nd, 2023

More than TWO BILLION POUNDS of pumpkins will end up in landfills worldwide this season. Pumpkins for the People rescues edible pumpkins for donation, diverts jack-o-lanterns for compost, and raises awareness about food waste. This Halloween, let’s make the most of all the resources that go into making that gorgeous gourd possible.

Where’s your pumpkin headed?

750,000

tons of pumpkins are produced in the U.S. every year. Most of that will end up in a landfill, where they’ll produce methane, 20x more detrimental than C02.

8%

of global greenhouse gas emissions can be directly attributed to waste food. That’s more than the airline industry.

$10 billion

estimated in total Halloween-related spending in America this year. That’s an order of magnitude more than our estimated national investment in composting infrastructure.

Squashing Food Waste Since 2010

Talk about scary! This Halloween Americans will send more than 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins to landfills. And when they break down in landfills, these pumpkins will produce methane, a greenhouse gas 20x more detrimental than carbon dioxide. And then there’s all the water, energy, transportation, time and effort that go into growing those pumpkins and getting them to your doorstep for Halloween.

Pumpkins for the People makes you part of the solution.

Here’s how it works:

First, you decide NOT to waste your pumpkin. When you carve your jack-o-lantern, you don’t throw the pumpkin guts in the trash -- you scoop out the seeds and roast them! And when the trick-or-treating is over, you cut that jack-o-lantern into pieces and we help you compost it and return those nutrients to the soil! As for any leftover edible pumpkins, we donate them! Whenever possible, we work with our recovery partners to put them to good use for the communities they serve.  

Pumpkins for the People was born in 2010 when Compost Cab, our community composting service based in the nation’s capital, made its first post-Halloween jack-o-lantern collections. In 2023 we expect to rescue more than ten tons of pumpkins and engage more than 10,000 people at home, at work, and at farmers markets. Don’t let wasted food haunt you this Halloween. Where’s your pumpkin headed?