Mountain Village to host community-wide pumpkin composting event November 1 and 2
The Town of Mountain Village presents a free opportunity for the community-at-large to compost pumpkins and other compostable materials after Halloween on Monday, November 1 and Tuesday, November 2.
This free composting opportunity is presented in partnership with the Town of Telluride and the community-at-large is invited to bring pumpkins (free of all non-compostable decorative items) and other household waste (yard waste, garden clippings, kitchen food scraps and more. Restaurants and businesses are also invited to participate.
A public compost bin will be placed in Mountain Village behind Village Market/Town Hall near the entrance to the Gondola Parking Garage. A full list of accepted material can be found online at bit.ly/MVPumpkinComposting.
“The Town of Mountain Village is excited to host the first free pumpkin composting event with the Town of Telluride,” said Mountain Village’s Environmental Efficiencies and Grant Coordinator Lauren Kirn. “It's a great opportunity for the community to come together to decrease our carbon footprint after Halloween and as the community is doing fall clean up around their homes or businesses.”
Each year, over 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkins are sent to the landfill. In landfills, pumpkins decompose without exposure to oxygen which causes methane to be released. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. When pumpkins are composted properly, oxygen is present during the process which prevents methane from being created.
Pumpkins are 90 percent water and contain valuable nutrients. Instead of wasting these resources and the resources used to grow pumpkins (e.g., energy and water) in a landfill, composting gives these nutrients back to the earth.
The Town of Mountain Village will be weighing the compost bin after the event to understand the amount of food waste diverted from the landfill and to calculate the associated greenhouse gas emissions avoided and water rescued.
To learn more about what can be composted and to volunteer to help with the event, please visit bit.ly/MVPumpkinComposting.
