On the crisp autumn afternoon of Nov. 2, families in the Boston community came together to give their old pumpkins a second life — not as decorations, but as compost. At the Great Pumpkin Smash, attendees took turns smashing their leftover jack-o’-lanterns, all in the name of reducing waste and helping the environment. What started as a Halloween tradition quickly turned into a hands-on lesson about sustainability, proving that even the most festive pumpkins can have a practical purpose long after the last trick-or-treater has gone home. 

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the English High School in Jamaica Plain, families met up to see how many pounds of pumpkins Boston can divert from trash and into compost. 

Made possible through the city of Boston’s partnership with Mothers Out Front Boston, South Street Youth Center, The English High School, Garbage to Garden and Save That Stuff, the event set a goal to compost 2,500 pounds of pumpkins.

Attendees were first met with a table and scale. Sandy Huckleberry sat at the table as a volunteer with Mothers Out Front, an organization that works to protect children from the climate crisis. The group organized the pumpkin smash, inspired by a Mothers Out Front chapter on the North Shore.

“We’re keeping a tally when people come in and we weigh the pumpkins, so that we have a tally of how many pounds we’ve been able to keep out of the Boston garbage stream, which so far is about 2,000 pounds, and we’re hoping to go past last year’s tally,” Huckleberry said. “I think we’re on track to do that.”

With two different stations, one with a baseball bat to smash and one with a target to aim and throw pumpkins, attendees had different options for how they chose to break down their old autumnal decoration. 

“It’s really fun and the kids have a good time,” said attendee and volunteer Gabbie McFrane. “Actually, they love to move the compost bins over to the truck. That’s really adorable. I like to watch all the pumpkins smash apart.”

Attendee Maggie Subramanian found out about the event through the Mothers Out Front email list and because her neighbor is involved. She even donated her basketball hoop to use for the event.

“It’s nice having a big community space where there’s lots of people that you see from the neighborhood, other kids for the kids to play with, stuff to do and for a good cause,” Subramanian said. “We already are part of the city’s composting program and I think we try to compost all of our food waste, but we like getting the kids involved for them to see it as just a normal part of the way to get rid of anything we’re not eating.”

Christian Reyes worked the Garbage to Garden truck for the second year in a row. The organization collects the pumpkin remnants and brings them to their facility where they get sorted and processed to create compost.

“They get excited seeing the truck and seeing us work,” Reyes said. “It puts a smile on our faces seeing them happy.”

While smashing pumpkins can be a fun tradition, it also serves as a way to help the planet. Rather than letting pumpkins end up in landfills, which contributes to unnecessary waste, composting offers a sustainable option.

“It’s really important to keep as much as you can of your compostable garbage out of the Boston system because when you let it go into the garbage system, it creates methane gas, which is about 80 times more potent in greenhouse gas than even carbon dioxide, so [composting] is a really important thing to do,” Huckleberry said.

For Boston residents who couldn’t attend the smash, the city provides a free curbside pickup service, allowing residents to dispose of as many pumpkins as can fit in the bright green compost bin, plus one additional pumpkin placed on top, during the weekly collection. Alternatively, residents can use the city’s compost drop-off program, called Project Oscar. However, any candles need to be removed and painted pumpkins or gourds with glitter cannot be composted.

“I think because the city of Boston has a program, it’s made it a lot easier and more accessible to people, and it’s a great way to divert trash from landfills and turn it into something that’s useful,” McFrane said.

The Great Pumpkin Smash not only brought the Boston community together, but it also demonstrated the power of collective action in reducing waste, attendees said. As this event continues to grow, and with the support of local organizations and the city’s composting initiatives, Boston residents can continue taking an active stand in creating a more sustainable future, one smashed pumpkin at a time.

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