CompostNow and Hungry Harvest, have teamed up to fight an often overlooked food waste contributor: Halloween pumpkins. Community members are encouraged to bring their old pumpkins to be composted rather than landfilled at their annual “Smash Don’t Trash” event on Saturday, November 3 from noon-4pm at Trophy Brewing on Maywood. All compost created from Smash Don’t Trash will be shared with Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s Camden St. Learning Garden to be used for their urban agricultural programs.

CompostNow is a local collection service that empowers community members and businesses
to divert their compostables from the landfill and, instead, use those nutrients to build healthy
soil in the community. To date, their members have diverted over 6 million pounds of
compostables from the landfill.

“Compost provides our depleted soils with the necessary nutrients it needs to grow healthy food for the community. For a resilient and vibrant local food system, we’ve got to close the nutrient-cycle. Teaming up with Hungry Harvest to create this community event was a perfect opportunity to reduce the impact wasted pumpkins have on landfills and to educate the public about the importance of composting,” says Kat Nigro, the Head of Marketing & Engagement at CompostNow.