Pumpkins are a staple fall decoration. But where should these gourds go once jack-o-lanterns start to mold and decay?

Pumpkins can be recycled too, said Mallary Lieber, garden pro assistant manager at the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture.

“If you have a compost bin, put it in your compost bin, because nitrogen rich material is very important for composting,” Lieber said at CCUA’s 2023 Pumpkin Chunkin composting event.

“But if you don’t have a compost, then honestly just leave it out for squirrels and deer to eat,” she said. “It’s good wildlife food, and it will just decompose.”

Your pumpkins shouldn’t end up in the trash, though, local experts say.

When organic food items, like pumpkins, are thrown in the landfill they can’t properly decompose without the microorganisms and oxygen available in a natural area. As they decay, greenhouse gasses are released.

“When organic waste like food dumps into the landfill, it produces a methane gas,” Bluebird Composting owner and founder Rana Bains said. “When it starts rotting there, it produces methane. It goes to the environment and the runoff, destroying our water and plus we lose those nutrients.”

Bains estimates his company kept 1,000 tons of food waste from entering a landfill each month last fall.

Composting and feeding wildlife can be a way to repurpose pumpkins, but they can also be used for pies and other pumpkin recipes.

Paula Fox, a local pumpkin enthusiast, has roasted her October pumpkin decorations for pie, seasoned seeds and stuffed pumpkins. Last November, she used one of her gourds for Thanksgiving recipes.