Make this Halloween Less Scary: Recycle Wrappers and Smash Pumpkins

Written By Mary Beth Schaye

Candy Wrappers

It’s that time of year, when our household waste production begins picking up speed. The average child collects around 30–50 pieces of candy during their annual trick-or-treating outing. Multiply this by the number of children you have and then add in all of the leftover candy you have because it can be hard to predict how many trick-or-treaters will be darkening your door. That can be a lot of wrappers!

This is the first year that we’ve been able to help with this particular waste problem. You can recycle them using one of our Zero Waste Bags! You can collect just your household’s wrappers or buy a bigger bag and divert the wrappers from your whole block or school. (That’s an example of building community through sustainability that we like to talk about.)

Pumpkins

You’re welcome to put out your pumpkins with your bucket or tote for composting free-of-charge, but please make it very clear to our drivers that you want them removed. We don’t want to take them until you’re ready.

More and more municipalities and park districts are hosting pumpkin smashes or collections on the weekend directly following Halloween, so that all of those pretty pumpkins can get composted. Our friends at SCARCE are really into pumpkin smashes and have a locator on their website. If you don’t see one near you listed, call your municipality. If they’re hosting one, encourage them to register. 

Check out SCARCE’s stats from 2023:
• 95 Pumpkin Smash sites
• Composted over 241 tons of pumpkins (that’s 482,000 lbs!)
• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 173.34 tons of CO2e
• Diverted 51,828 gallons of water from landfills

If you want to host your own smaller scale pumpkin smash, maybe for your block or your friends and family, check out the blogpost I wrote a few years back called Host a Pumpkin Smash: Halloween Fun That’s Good for the Planet.

If you’re thorough and want to read everything I’ve ever written on pumpkins, don’t miss this previous blogpost: Pumpkins and Pickleball.

We hope you have a fun-filled fall, and as our friends at SCARCE so perfectly put it: Don’t let your waste haunt you! 

Mary Beth Schaye

Mary Beth strongly believes that “It’s always better to be doing something rather than nothing.” If you’re thinking of composting at home, she can help you work out what your particular “something” can be. She’s confident a solution can be tailored to fit anyone’s needs and ambitions. “Anyone who eats can be a CRI customer, whether you are an individual or a large organization. I want you to understand the advantages of composting, and I can show you how CRI can make it easy.” Mary Beth has successfully designed waste diversion strategies for individuals, schools, houses of worship, and other communities. She’s received the governor’s Environmental Hero award for her work at her daughter’s school. Whether you’re starting with a backyard bin, a kitchen bucket, a worm farm, or a large-scale commercial collection, Mary Beth can be your good-natured guide.

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