Trashing your pumpkin can cause greenhouse gas. These Sacramento farms will use it instead

Pumpkins are symbolic of the Halloween season, but once the holiday passes there really is not much use for the jack-o-lantern sitting on your front porch.

Here are ways you can compost the scraps in Sacramento or donate it to local farmers:

Why does it matter?

California is one of the top pumpkin producers in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2022, farmers in the Golden State grew 122 million pounds of pumpkins. More often than not, pumpkins tend to end up in landfills.

When a pumpkin is in a landfill it decomposes and, trapped, produces methane, “a harmful greenhouse gas that plays a part in climate change,” according to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

To eliminate pumpkins from ending up in landfills you can reuse the fruit.

Donate your pumpkins at a local Sacramento farm

Local farms in the Sacramento area use donated pumpkins to feed farm animals. Below are three local farms that will take your Halloween pumpkins this year:

Find Out Farms at 4712 Parker Ave., accepts pumpkins on Saturdays between 9 a.m. and noon, according to farm staff. Before donating your pumpkin, make sure to remove any candles. Painted jack-o-lanterns are not accepted.

Oak Park Eggery at 3525 44th St., is accepting pumpkins to feed its chickens. The jack-o-lanterns can be dropped off at the community chicken coop, according to its Instagram. There visitors will find a ramp to toss the pumpkins into the coop for the chickens to eat.

H&K Family Farm at 3193 Orchard Lane is registered on the Pumpkin for Pigs website. Local farmers in the area like H&K use pumpkin scraps to feed local pigs and other farm animals, according to the Pumpkin for Pigs site. If you want to donate your Halloween jack-o-lanterns make sure to call the farm notifying them you will be dropping by.

Compost your pumpkin yourself

Instead of tossing your pumpkin in the trash, you can compost it.