EDGEWATER — Pumpkin carving season is over, but there’s a way to get rid of your Halloween jack-o’-lanterns.
The city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation has teamed with ward offices and neighborhood groups to host 10 “pumpkin smash” events 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.
The events allow neighbors to drop off their pumpkins — or even smash them — into composting bins. Composting pumpkins allows them to be used to enrich soil and keeps them out of landfills, a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Pumpkins brought to the composting events should be free of candles and other decorations.
Here is where pumpkins can be composted Saturday:
- Plant Chicago, 4459 S. Marshfield Ave.
- Comer Crops Youth Farm, 7200 S. Ingleside Ave.
- Morton School of Excellence, 431 N. Troy St.
- Disney II Magnet School, 3815 N. Kedvale Ave.
- George Washington High School, 3535 E. 114th St.
- Solorio Academy High School, 5400 S. St. Louis Ave.
- Coonley Elementary School, 4046 N. Leavitt St.
- Carl von Linné Elementary School, 3221 N. Sacramento Ave.
- Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, 3857 W. 111th St.
- Chicago Fire Station 70, 6040 N. Clark St.
The Chicago Fire station compost event runs noon-4 p.m. and is hosted by the Edgewater Environmental Coalition.
At that event, residents can either drive up or park and toss their pumpkins in the compost bin. In the past three years of the event, over 12 tons of pumpkins were diverted from landfills, according to organizers.
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