Jack-o’-lanterns are great fun on Halloween. Thousands of pumpkins are carved in the Lower Mainland each year and too often they end up in the landfill. Let’s reduce waste by following these tips.
Eat them
Pumpkins taste great and are packed with fibre and antioxidants. Check for delicious recipes online.
Compost them
Worms love pumpkins. Whether your pumpkin is chopped up and mixed with yard trimmings in your backyard composter or is in your kitchen-based worm composter, worms will thank you. In return, they will gift you nutrient-rich compost that you can use in your garden–maybe even to grow next year’s pumpkin!
Bring them to the curb
Burnaby’s Green Bin program accepts whole pumpkins and pumpkin scraps. Re-use the newspaper from the carving station to wrap the pumpkin scraps before placing them in the green bin. Remember to remove candles and any other non-organic objects.
Candy wrappers are recyclable too
Snack, candy and chocolate bar wrappers are all recyclable. They are accepted as Other Flexible Plastic Packaging and can be dropped off at a participating Recycle BC depot such as the Eco-Centre. For the full list of Other Flexible Plastic Packaging, view recyclebc.ca.
