Smash those pumpkins

Pumpkins ready to be smashed

Halloween is over, and so is the pumpkin season. What did you do with your Halloween pumpkins? Have you ever considered reusing them to have a smashing good time?

The City of Edmonton’s Compost ‘S Cool organized a free pumpkin smashing event on the afternoon of Saturday, November 2. People were invited to bring their Halloween pumpkins to smash and prepare for composting. Everyone had a great time and the event gets bigger every year. This year, 479 people smashed 518 pumpkins!

Composting is a natural process that breaks down organic kitchen and yard materials. Composting turns organic materials into a dark, earthy material called compost. Finished compost improves soil and helps make your plants, garden and lawn healthier. The pumpkins brought in by participants are put through the composting process and, after a few months, will be available as food for plants. During the event, volunteers helped  people make compost tea bags. The tea bags, made from coffee filters filled with a small amount of last year’s pumpkin compost and tied closed, can later be soaked in water and used to water plants.

Pumpkin compost being made into compost tea bags

The event was fun-filled, particularly for the young ones. To smash the pumpkins, participants could drop it from a set height, stomp on it to break it down into pieces, or  crush it with a long hammer. The most popular option for children, though - resulting in a long queue of eager participants - was attaching a pumpkin to a rope plant holder and swinging it into a tree or pillar. No matter the choice, every pumpkin smashing station was manned by Master Composter Recyclers to assist with the smashing and to ensure the safety of all.

Different and fun ways pumpkins were smashed

Volunteers then collected the smashed and broken pumpkin pieces into large heaps, mixed with leaves and straw, in preparation for composting.

Smashed pumpkins become compost

After all of this hard work, people warmed up with free hot chocolate provided by Compost S’ Cool.

If you are new to composting, you can learn more about the process and get useful tips and resources from Compost S’ Cool. They organize regular workshops and information sessions for members of the public. You can learn more here.

If you missed this year’s pumpkin smashing event, plan ahead for next year. If you have a soggy pumpkin or other food scraps to discard, find out if there is a Sharewaste compost site in your neighbourhood. Follow Compost ‘S Cool on Facebook to stay up to date with all of their upcoming events and workshops!

Photos and Submission by Sunanda (Volunteer)

Waste Reduction Week Canada (Oct 21-27)

Waste Reduction Week in Canada has again come and gone! 

For those that aren't familiar with this Canadian initiative, "Waste Reduction Week" (WRW) is an annual event to inform Canadians about the environment and social ramifications of wasteful practices. WRW was developed by a coalition of 13 recycling councils and sister organizations from across Canada and happens in the third week of October each year. WRW uses its “take action” messaging to empower all Canadians to adopt more environmentally-conscious choices and provides them with information and ideas to reduce waste in all facets of daily living. (https://recycle.ab.ca/wrw/)

This year Waste Reduction Week (WRW) tackled seven different subjects related to waste, with each day dedicated to one theme. 

In my opinion, WRW in Canada has done an excellent job in educating about the vast array of waste issues that are suffocating our planet these days. What I liked most about this week is how easy it was to share about the importance of waste reduction because the organization's website, useful information and infographics were so easy to access. What made it even more simple to share with others was the fact that it was an official Canada-wide initiative - which I feel super proud of my country for having - and made it so much easier to share with businesses and organizations, such as the private school I work at.

The topics highlighted are truly some of the most imperative and urgent waste issues. As WRW has dedicated each day to a topic, let's review all that was shared for each subject and learn about how we can reduce our waste!

1. Circular Economy. Developing a circular economy is so important because products are designed so that the resources used to make products can be reused and reinvested into new products over and over again.

Circular economy is different from recycling because during the initial stages of product design, purposeful reuse of the resources is planned into the system instead of finding a recycling solution afterwards. This mindfulness in the initial stages of production reduces inevitable waste at the end of that product lifespan and also avoids possible toxic or non-recyclable materials from ending up in landfills.

What can you do to support this? Check out these tips from WRW below:

• Engage in products/services that use smart design and recycled materials

• Prioritize access over ownership (e.g. consider borrowing or renting items that you don't need often)

• Extend the life of materials through swapping, repairing/refurbishing

• Support companies that offer take-back programs

• Purchase refurbished products

2. Textiles. Fast fashion is one of the leading waste contributors and one of the top polluters of our environment. Factories of fast fashion companies often do not have proper water-treatment systems, resulting in the harmful dyes and chemicals leaking into rivers and streams where water is collected for household use. Additionally, sweatshops are known to underpay their workers and disregard safety regulations, making working conditions dangerous. These are the key messages from WRW on what you can do:

• Practicing conscious consumption

• Learning about the environmental impacts of clothing production

• Repairing clothes before purchasing new

• Repurposing clothes into new outfits and accessories

• Extending the life of textiles through reuse: clothing swaps, shopping thrift, and donating clothes.

3. Champions & Innovators. This day celebrated communities, individuals, and organizations that are disrupting traditional business models to embrace waste reduction initiatives and making big gains in waste reduction.

Doesn't this sound just like... the Edmonton Reuse Centre?! Yes, yes it does! In this post, I'd like to commend the Reuse Centre for being a one-of-a-kind place in Edmonton Waste Services that promotes the ideas and benefits of reuse, provides affordable items to organizations and individuals, and thereby diverts waste from the landfill.

If you've never been or don't know anything about the Reuse Centre, they have a collection of a wide variety of materials, ranging from arts and crafts supplies, home decor, media, metals, needle craft supplies, office and school paper, plastics, wood, and various other items that are all sold by weight - meaning you can grab your goods for cheap!

Source: City of Edmonton 

4. Plastics and Packaging. It is well known that single-use plastics are one of the leading contributors to the world's waste problem, with our oceans and landfills drowning in it. We can all work towards reducing our plastic use and learn to dispose of items properly. Here are some key tips from WRW:

• Make simple changes in your everyday life to reduce your plastic footprint. Every action counts.

• Use circular economy principles in product design and business models to reduce plastic waste.

• Learn about how plastic affects marine environments and how you can take action.

• Learn how to reduce and reuse plastics in everyday life through WRW's online resources.

• Find resources and links to other plastics awareness campaigns.

5. Food Waste. It's inevitable that households will produce food waste, but how much is too much? It doesn't make any sense that there are approximately 800 million people starving around the world, when the total world food production is more than enough to feed everyone. Food waste often happens in North American kitchens when food and produce in the fridge goes rotten - and this is something that can be completely avoided! WRW sets out simple guidelines to reduce food waste and asks those that are committed to take a pledge. Here are the tips suggested by WRW:

• Learn about food waste in Canada.

• Take action to reduce your food waste by:

• Planning meals and making a grocery list.

• Storing fruits and vegetables properly so they last longer.

• Getting creative with leftovers.

• Understanding the difference between best before and expiry dates.

Click here to take the pledge!

6. Swap, Share & Repair. Swapping, sharing, or refurbishing extends product/material lifecycles and diverts them from disposal. On Saturday of Waste Reduction Week, Canadians were encouraged to think about the lifecycle of their materials and learn more about sustainable consumption, the sharing economy, and extending the life of materials through reuse.

Keep in mind that this can be done anytime and anywhere! The best way to reduce and reuse waste IS to give your products a new life by trading them elsewhere and, in turn, receiving something new! Edmonton's thrifting, trade, and consignment scene has been growing, with new events and initiatives happening every couple of weeks, so this is a great opportunity for people to get out there and do some swapping and sharing!


7. E-Waste. E-waste has definitely been the focus in the past two decades as technology has become an essential part of everyday life. Did you know that globally last year, the total amount of electronic waste reached 44.7 million tonnes and only approximately 20 per cent was recycled? Our electronics are made from materials like chlorinated solvents, brominated flame retardants, PVC, heavy metals, plastics, and gases that could poison the environment if not recycled properly.

Source: City of Edmonton

WRW says that a majority of households have old electronics kicking around. Since most Canadian municipalities do not offer curb side e-waste pickup, many residents rely on collection events for proper management of these items. Organizations, schools, and municipalities were encouraged to host an e-waste collection event for reuse and/or responsible recycling during Waste Reduction Week. 

In Edmonton, we currently have 4 Eco Stations where you can drop off your electronics for FREE! How great is that?! 

If you are a resident looking to drop off your electronics at a City of Edmonton Eco Station, make sure you take a look at the guidelines for other acceptable/unacceptable items.

I hope this movement inspires you to be your own champion in reducing waste and in finding more ways to reuse the things in your life!

Until next time!

Submission by Jessica (Volunteer)