Last week, the City of Traverse City launched the “Pumpkin Smashing Extravaganza,” a program with a goal of diverting post-Halloween pumpkin waste from landfills. On Tuesday, the city announced that, in just the first three days of the program, it met its goal of collecting 1 ton of pumpkins. Now, the city and its partners have set a new goal of logging 2 tons of pumpkin waste by the time the program concludes this coming Saturday, November 9.

The Pumpkin Smashing Extravaganza is a collaboration between the city, Carter’s Compost, and SEEDS. Through the program, those partners have been offering pumpkin drop-off hours at the city’s new 20-yard “in-vessel composting unit,” located at 143 Beitner, since the day after Halloween. It’s all building up to an event on Saturday where attendees will have the opportunity “to smash their pumpkins at various activity stations.” That event will run from 10am to 1pm, also at the Beitner composting unit, and is free and open to the public.

The initial goal of the project was “to divert 1 ton of pumpkins from landfills.” According to the city’s website, 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkins are produced annually in the United States. Many of those pumpkins, particularly the ones used for carving or other Halloween traditions, end up in landfills, where they contribute to methane gas emissions. Eliminating pumpkins from the waste stream and composting them instead can help reduce greenhouse gases, among other benefits. 

Pumpkin drop-off numbers exceeded the city’s expectations, surpassing the original 1-ton goal between Friday, November 1 and Sunday, November 3. For reference, a ton is equal to 2,204 pounds. Now, the partners are doubling their goal, in hopes of collecting 2 tons of pumpkin waste by Saturday.

More information about the program and this weekend’s pumpkin smashing event can be found on the city website.