The post-Halloween tradition is an easy, impactful way to divert waste from landfills
Perhaps there’s no greater symbol of Halloween—and to a greater extent, the fall season—than pumpkins. Intricately carved or plain, stand-alone décor or part of a larger motif, pumpkin fever is hard to escape.
Once the streets are clear of trick-or-treaters, however, many of these pumpkins are unceremoniously tossed in the garbage, wasting a valuable resource and contributing to environmental harm. Enter pumpkin smashes. Positioned as a fun, easy, and impactful way to dispose of unwanted pumpkins, these events ensure that used pumpkins avoid the trash bin and fulfill their unlimited potential.
More Than Smashing Pumpkins
Undoubtedly, many participants are drawn to pumpkin-smash events by the simple promise of the title.
“I’ll tell you, the number of parents who come are just like, ‘Oh, yeah, my kid will do it,’ and then by the end of it, they’re all wailing away, and they’re talking about how therapeutic it is,” says Lynne Serpe, Founder of Compost NOW, a New Orleans-based, food-waste collection program that runs pumpkin smashes throughout the city.
There’s an emotional release that comes from throwing a pumpkin to the ground, stomping on it, smashing it to bits with a bat or a hammer, catapulting it, or even crushing it with a custom-made device like St. Cloud Parks and Recreation’s “Gallagher the Pumpkin Smasher.” Named after the comedian who often smashed watermelons as part of his act, “Gallagher the Pumpkin Smasher” resembles a construction-site trebuchet and is placed in front of a target.
