Residents at a previous Pumpkin Smash (Photo provided by the Queens Botanical Garden)
Oct. 21, 2021 By Michael Dorgan
Instead of throwing out this Halloween’s used pumpkins, Sunnyside/Woodside residents can smash them apart with their neighbors – while helping the environment.
The seventh annual Pumpkin Smash will take place on Nov. 6 at the Sunnyside Greenmarket, located outside Lou Lodati Playground on Skillman Avenue between 41st and 43rd Street.
The event will see staff from the Queens Botanical Garden on hand to help residents smash pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns apart. The workers will then bring them back to the Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing where they will be turned into compost.
The compost will then be used as fertilizer in community gardens, on street tree beds and in other public greening initiatives, organizers say.
The initiative aims to keep unwanted items out of landfills, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
It also serves as a way to educate people about the environmental benefits of composting as workers will provide participants with information about composting and recycling programs in New York City.
“This event takes something very fun—smashing pumpkins to smithereens—and uses it to engage and educate with community members about the importance of compost,” said Chelsea Encababian, Compost Project Manager at the Queens Botanical Garden.
The event is being organized by the operators of the Queens Botanical Garden, located at 43-50 Main St. as part of a city-wide composting program called the NYC Compost Project.
The pumpkin smash will go from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
