Please don’t put it in the trash; bring it to the smash and green your Halloween! In partnership with the Des Plaines Park District, the City is hosting the Pumpkin Smash composting event on Saturday, November 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the north parking lot of Prairie Lake Community Center.

Bring your pumpkins, jack-o’-lanterns, and gourds to the Pumpkin Smash composting event where attendees can toss their pumpkins into the designated dumpster and WasteNot Compost will haul it away for composting. Painted pumpkins are fine, but please remove any non-biodegradable materials such as candles, googly eyes, stickers, plastic and yarn.

New this year, we are also collecting plastic and foil candy wrappers for recycling both at the Pumpkin Smash event and in a special drop-off bin in the City Hall lobby throughout November. It’s a simple way to give those wrappers a second life and stay out of the landfill.

At the 2024 Pumpkin Smash, our residents composted a total of 234 pumpkins weighing 2,476 pounds, offsetting 111 gallons of gas and 2,455 miles of driving. Great job, Des Plaines! 

For information on more events like this, check out our roundup of Pumpkin Smash Composting Events.