Mountain Village to offer free community-wide composting November 1-18
The Town of Mountain Village presents a free opportunity to compost pumpkins and other compostable materials after Halloween November 1 through November 18 (or until containers are full).
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 encouraged to participate as well.
Due to the success of last year’s composting event there will be two drop-off locations in Mountain Village this year: Village Market/Town Hall near the entrance to the Gondola Parking Garage and the Meadows Parking Lot. A full list of accepted material can be found online at bit.ly/MVPumpkinComposting.
“Last year we diverted over 2 tons of pumpkins and organic materials from the landfill, and this year we hope to divert even more!” 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 bins 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.
Interested in composting? We want to hear from our Mountain Village residents as we explore options for future composting services for the community. Please fill out this survey today to share your feedback. https://bit.ly/TMVcompostsurvey.
