Tricks, treats and spooky spectacles may be over for another year, but many Winnipeggers’ yards are still displaying festive Jack o’ lanterns.
For anyone wondering what to do with their pumpkin now that Halloween has passed, how about throwing it off the top of a parkade?
Compost Winnipeg wants to help locals do just that, with the second-annual pumpkin drop event at CF Polo Park.
The organization’s Karrie Blackburn told Global News the event, which takes place Saturday, is an opportunity to smash some fun into being environmentally conscious.
“We park underneath the second level of the parkade at Polo Park, near Sport Chek, and people line up at the top, second level, and just nudge (their pumpkin) off the ledge… and it goes ‘splat’ in the truck.”
Blackburn said around a thousand Winnipeggers participated in last year’s inaugural event, resulting in more than 24 kilograms of pumpkins getting composted.
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As it turns out, when organic waste gets disposed of in the landfill, it doesn’t decompose properly, and can actually be more dangerous to the environment than one might expect.
“It doesn’t have oxygen present, so it actually decomposes anaerobically — which means it produces methane, a very, very potent greenhouse gas,” Blackburn said.
“By composting it separately, not only does it prevent that, it also gives you a finished product — you end up with compost, a soil amendment.
“We can’t be a disruption in the cycle … we have to put back what we take from the natural world.”
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