Don’t trash your Halloween pumpkins! Farm animal feasts, composts are better for environment

SACRAMENTO — Halloween is officially over and for those who are itching to toss their pumpkins in the trash — not so fast.

Not only is it bad for the environment for pumpkins to end up in the landfill, you might be depriving some of your neighbors of a tasty treat.

A West Sacramento pet pig and her owner are reminding their neighbors it’s possible to give those pumpkins new life after spooky season.

“They’re not rotting. It’s better to put it to good use than to just toss it,” said Heather Moore, who owns Annabelle the pig.

Annabelle has a big appetite the day after Halloween when holiday leftovers are all treats no tricks.

“Why throw a perfectly good pumpkin in the trash when there’s an animal out there that would devour it?” Moore asked.

With every sloppy bite, Annabelle is helping the environment one pumpkin at a time.

A lot of people do not know that when pumpkins are thrown in the trash, the discarded gourd emits a greenhouse gas. It’s an environmental scare that scientists say kindles climate change.

“They can help generate methane from the landfill because they are not aerated,” said Jesa David with Sacramento’s Recycling and Solid Waste Division.

David said a better option is for neighbors to bury those pumpkins, let them decompose in the yard, or compost them.

“All our food scraps can go into our green waste bin now and be recycled into compost. That includes pumpkins, even if you’ve carved it out. Remove any decoration or candles,” David said.

That’s the simple way: recycle and compost. However, you can also ring the dinner bell for your local farm animals like Annabelle.

“I can’t stand humans eating but I could listen to her chomp down on a pumpkin all day,” Moore said with a laugh.

It’s why, for three years now, she has put out the call on social media asking her neighbors for uncarved pumpkins that are headed for their timely end.

She helps them find a new fate as an all-Annabelle-can-eat buffet.

“I’ll keep doing it as long as it brings people joy and it makes her happy,” Moore said.

Annabelle got almost 80 pumpkins last year, enough to freeze for later and even donate to other nearby animals looking for a tasty snack.

If you would like to donate pumpkins to Annabelle, reach out to Heather Moore on Facebook.

For more information on how to recycle organics from your home, click here.

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