WILL COUNTY — Pulverize your post-Halloween jack-o’-lanterns at two Forest Preserve District of Will County Pumpkin Smash programs this fall, intended to give the gourds a second life as compost.

The pumpkin pummeling sessions are set for noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, at Plum Creek Nature Center in Crete Township and Hidden Oaks Nature Center in Bolingbrook. Participants can pound, roll or drop their pumpkins until they’re smooshed into smaller pieces for composting, which is a better option than sending them to the landfill. For details, visit the Event Calendar at ReconnectWithNature.org.

Heather Van Zyl, facility supervisor at Plum Creek, said people will have many options for destroying their pumpkins during the events.

“At Plum Creek, participants can start breaking down their whole pumpkins by rolling them down the big hill aiming for the target,” she said. “Or they can be thrown off Squirrel’s Treehouse.”

Once the process begins, the chunks can be gathered for further destruction at smash stations.

“Smash and bash them down to pulp with all kinds of different tools,” Van Zyl said. “Look for a special squish zone for our youngest participants.”

Both locations will feature vendors, refreshments and activities. The activities will be fun but also important because composting keeps waste out of landfills, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and creates natural fertilizer for soil.

“Keeping pumpkins out of the landfill is the number one goal of Pumpkin Smash,” said Brittany Schaller, interpretive naturalist at Hidden Oaks. “Since hundreds of millions of Americans purchase pumpkins during the autumn season and a whopping 80% of these pumpkins end up in our already overflowing landfills, this is a cause for concern.”

For those who don’t have compost capabilities at home, Pumpkin Smash provides the perfect solution, Schaller said.

“People can walk away knowing they did the responsible thing with their pumpkins.”

Pumpkin Smash is a regional event spearheaded by DuPage County-based SCARCE (School & Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education) to promote composting and the wise use of resources. In 2024, 103 SCARCE-affiliated Pumpkin Smash programs composted more than 164 tons of pumpkins, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 118 tons of CO2e and diverting more than 35,000 gallons of water from landfills, according to the SCARCE website.