Nonprofit Annapolis Green is partnering with the City of Annapolis to collect and compost fall pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns that have outlived their decorative usefulness. Instead of putting unwanted pumpkins in the trash and condemning them to the landfill, bring them to the Great Pumpkin Dropoff at Truxtun Park! Next spring those nutritious pumpkins will have been turned into fantastic compost for your spring garden.
The Great Pumpkin Dropoff is part of nonprofit Annapolis Green’s Here We Grow program to encourage home gardeners to grow food with flowers with the natural soil amendment of compost rather than synthetic fertilizers and without pesticides.
“This is a great way to capture the nutrition in the pumpkins,” said Elvia Thompson, President & Co-founder of Annapolis Green. “We have set up a way to teach kids about how nature works and to reduce waste sent to the landfill. We’re delighted that the City is partnering with us on this.”
The pumpkins will be turned into compost by Veteran Compost, Maryland’s only licensed compost farm and a Founding One Hundred supporter of Annapolis Green. Residents will be able to pre-order “Pumpkin Spice Compost” as a holiday gift from Annapolis Green along with related gardening products.
The huge pumpkin currently on Church Circle, Market Space and in front of Lemongrass will be composted too, along with their little brothers and sisters from our porches.
How it Works
Bring your pumpkins (or pumpkin bits if you’re making pie) to the bins conveniently set up on Truxtun Park Road in Truxtun Park (near the skateboard area). Watch for directional signs. Just pour them into the bins and you’re done knowing that you’ve done a good thing for the Earth and lightened the landfill load!
Post photos of your pumpkins on social media with these hashtags: #AnnapollisGreenGreatPumpkinDropoff and #AnnapolisPumpkinsBacktoNature.
Residents are asked to remove any wax or paint from Jack-O-Lanterns as those materials will not break down with the natural pumpkin.
