Niki Powell

Every Halloween, millions of pumpkins decorate porches, front yards, and storefronts, and by November 1, most of them end up in the trash. But those bright orange decorations don’t have to become landfill waste. Learning about composting pumpkins turns a holiday tradition into an opportunity to give back to the environment. Instead of contributing to methane-producing landfill waste, your leftover pumpkins can help create nutrient-rich compost that restores soil health and supports sustainable landscaping.

Whether you manage a business, or carving your own pumpkins at home, composting pumpkins is an easy seasonal habit that can make a big difference.

Why Pumpkin Waste Is a Bigger Problem Than You Think

More than 1 billion pounds of pumpkins are grown in the U.S. every year, and most of them end up discarded after Halloween. When pumpkins are thrown in the trash, they’re sent to landfills, where they decompose without oxygen. That anaerobic breakdown produces methane, a greenhouse gas more than 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

In Tennessee and surrounding states, where landfill space is limited and disposal costs continue to rise, this is a growing issue. Composting helps break that cycle by turning organic waste back into a natural resource instead of a pollutant. Every carved pumpkin diverted from the landfill is a small but meaningful step toward sustainability.

The Benefits of Composting Pumpkins

Composting pumpkins offers environmental, practical, and community benefits:

• Reduces landfill waste: Keeps heavy, moisture-rich pumpkins out of municipal waste systems.
• Improves soil health: Compost adds organic matter, boosts microbial activity, and enhances water retention.
• Saves on disposal costs: Municipalities and property managers can cut hauling expenses during the high-volume post-Halloween cleanup season.
• Supports local composting programs: Businesses and households that participate in compost pickup or drop-off programs help strengthen the regional composting network.

At The Compost Company, thousands of pounds of pumpkins are composted each fall. They’re collected from local events, schools, and community drop-offs, then transformed into nutrient-rich compost used by landscapers and gardeners across Middle Tennessee.

How to Compost Pumpkins at Home

If you have a small number of pumpkins to dispose of, composting at home is simple. Follow these steps to make the process efficient and odor-free:

1. Remove decorations: Take off candles, paint, stickers, or glitter. Only the pumpkin flesh and stem belong in compost.
2. Chop or break apart: The smaller the pieces, the faster they’ll break down.
3. Mix with browns: Combine your pumpkin pieces with dry leaves, straw, or cardboard to balance moisture and carbon content.
4. Keep it covered: Add a layer of leaves or soil to prevent pests and odors.
5. Turn regularly: Stir or flip your compost pile every few weeks to promote airflow and speed decomposition.

By early spring, your compost will be rich, dark, and ready to use in gardens, lawns, or landscaping projects.

Community Composting and Drop-Off Options

For those without space or time to compost at home, local composting programs make the process easy. In the Nashville area, The Compost Company offers convenient drop-off locations for seasonal items like pumpkins, yard waste, and food scraps.

Businesses and event organizers can also arrange bulk pickup services for large collections, from fall festivals and community events to farm stands. Scheduled pickups ensure pumpkins are composted sustainably while keeping your site clean and organized.

Participating in local composting programs not only diverts organic material from landfills but also supports circular economies, where waste becomes a resource that goes back into the community as finished compost.

Tips for Large-Scale Pumpkin Composting

If you manage a business or have an event that generates significant pumpkin waste, here are a few best practices to handle it efficiently:

• Plan ahead: Coordinate compost pickup or drop-off schedules before Halloween weekend.
• Separate pumpkins from trash: Provide clear signage at collection points to reduce contamination.
• Store temporarily if needed: Keep pumpkins in a shaded, cool area until pickup day to prevent rot or odor.
• Encourage public participation: Partner with local composting facilities to host “Pumpkin Drop” events that let residents dispose of pumpkins responsibly.

Throughout the year, The Compost Company partners with schools, businesses, and community groups across Middle Tennessee to keep organic waste out of landfills. By composting food scraps, landscaping debris, and seasonal materials like pumpkins, these partnerships turn everyday waste into something that benefits the entire community.

Composting Pumpkins for Businesses and Institutions

Beyond households, composting pumpkins is a simple way for restaurants and grocery stores to reduce waste. From seasonal menus to fall produce displays, leftover pumpkins can quickly pile up, and composting keeps them from ending up in the trash.

• Reduce disposal costs compared to landfill hauling
• Improve ESG and sustainability reporting metrics
• Strengthen community reputation as an environmentally responsible organization

Scheduled compost pickup services through The Compost Company allow businesses to manage food and organic waste seamlessly, no matter the season.

Creative Ways to Reuse or Recycle Pumpkins Before Composting

Not every pumpkin needs to go straight into the compost bin. Before you toss them, consider these sustainable reuse ideas:

• Wildlife feeders: Cut pumpkins in half and leave them outside for squirrels, birds, or deer.
• Garden enrichment: Mix small chunks directly into garden soil to add organic matter.
• Animal feed: Farms and animal rescues often accept unpainted, uncarved pumpkins for livestock.
• Fall planters: Hollow out pumpkins to use as temporary compostable pots for mums or succulents.

Once you’re done reusing them, composting ensures that every piece of the pumpkin completes the natural cycle.

Final Thoughts

Halloween doesn’t have to mean piles of orange waste heading to the landfill. By composting pumpkins, you help reduce methane emissions, improve soil health, and support a more sustainable community. Whether you’re composting at home, scheduling a pickup for your business, or dropping pumpkins off at a local site, every effort counts.

This year, keep Halloween fun going without the waste.

Soil health is the foundation of every successful lawn, landscape, or agricultural project. Yet many property owners, landscapers, and farmers still struggle with one big question: what’s better for the job, compost or fertilizer? The truth is that both can play an important role… but they aren’t interchangeable. Understanding when to use compost vs fertilizer will help you choose the right product for your goals, whether you’re growing healthier turf, supporting large-scale agriculture, or simply keeping residential properties in top shape.

Compost is decomposed organic matter, often made from food scraps, leaves, grass clippings, and other natural materials. At The Compost Company, this process is scaled up to handle large amounts of organics from municipalities, businesses, and property managers. Once finished, compost becomes a nutrient-rich soil amendment that:

• Improves soil structure by adding organic matter
• Retains moisture and reduces watering needs
• Provides a slow release of nutrients over time
• Supports microbial activity essential for healthy soils
• Increases yield and productivity

Fertilizer is a concentrated product that provides specific nutrients—primarily nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). Fertilizers can be synthetic (manufactured with chemical compounds) or organic (made from natural sources such as bone meal or manure).

Fertilizer is most often used to:

• Deliver a quick nutrient boost
• Correct specific soil deficiencies
• Support intensive crop or turf production

While compost and fertilizer both provide nutrients, they work in very different ways:

Understanding these differences helps property owners and professionals make informed choices for their land management.

Compost is best used when the goal is to build strong, resilient soil that sustains plants season after season. Ideal applications include:

• Lawn topdressing: Thin layers improve turf health and reduce the need for constant fertilization.
• Garden beds and landscapes: Mixing compost into planting areas boosts structure and supports root growth.
• Agriculture: Farmers use compost to increase organic matter and improve water retention in large fields. Studies show soils becoming more productive yield/acre
• Erosion control: Compost blankets stabilize slopes and reduce runoff on construction and landscaping sites.

Because compost improves soil over time, it’s a smart investment for property managers, landscapers, municipalities, and even homeowners looking to reduce long-term costs as well as labor. Healthy soil requires less work.

Fertilizer has its place, especially when rapid growth or correction is needed. Examples include:

• Nutrient deficiencies: Soil tests showing a lack of nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium can be corrected with targeted fertilizer applications.
• High-demand crops: Some agricultural operations use fertilizers to meet the nutrient needs of intensive production schedules. Unfortunately, increasing amounts of fertilizer are required to produce crop, and runoff is often the unintended result.

That said, fertilizer works best when paired with compost. Fertilizer provides the quick fix; compost provides the foundation.

The smartest soil management strategy often involves using both compost and fertilizer. Here’s how they complement each other:

• Compost improves soil structure and biology, creating an environment where roots can thrive.
• Fertilizer delivers immediate nutrients when plants need a boost.
• Together, they reduce the risk of over-fertilization, since compost helps soils hold nutrients instead of letting them wash away.
• Over time, the need for fertilizer is reduced

The question of compost vs fertilizer isn’t about choosing one forever. It’s about understanding what each product offers and using them strategically. Compost strengthens soil for the long term, while fertilizer provides a quick boost when needed. For property managers, landscapers, municipalities, and homeowners, the best results often come from making compost the foundation of soil health and using fertilizer as a supplemental tool.

Ready to build healthier soil for your next project?

Communities of all sizes face the same challenge every fall: what to do with all that yard waste? When leaves blanket everything, what should we do to them? In nature, leaves decompose to feed Spring growth. Elsewhere, we’re not always willing to let that cycle take it’s course but we shouldn’t deprive our soils of this important cycle.

Leaf drop season is the perfect time to turn yard waste into compost so that it can give back to the environment.

Why Yard Waste Management Matters

Every year, thousands of tons of leaves and yard debris end up in landfills across the United States. In Tennessee and surrounding states, landfill space is limited, and disposal fees add up quickly. In landfills, yard waste breaks down anaerobically, producing methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. By diverting leaves, grass clippings, and small branches into composting systems, property owners and businesses can:

• Reduce disposal costs
• Improve soil health through compost returns
• Support community-wide sustainability initiatives
• Keep landscapes tidy and professional-looking

Composting Yard Waste Effectively

The best way to manage leaf drop and seasonal yard debris is through composting. By turning leaves, grass clippings, and small branches into nutrient-rich compost, property owners and organizations produce a soil amendment that restores fertility and structure for healthier landscapes.

For larger cleanups, individual leaf piles or small backyard bins aren’t always practical. That’s where large-scale composting comes in. Municipalities often rely on it to process park and street collections, property managers use it for subdivisions or campus-wide cleanups, and landscapers turn to it for consistent results across multiple client sites.

At The Compost company, yard waste is collected and processed at scale, then returned to the community as finished compost, available by the cubic yard for delivery.

Leaf Composting Tips for Property Owners

If you’re managing your own yard cleanup, here are best practices for composting leaves effectively:

1. Shred before composting: Chopping leaves into smaller pieces helps them break down faster.
2. Balance with greens: Mix leaves (carbon-rich browns) with nitrogen-rich materials like grass clippings or food scraps.
3. Keep piles aerated: Turn piles regularly or ensure airflow to prevent compaction. Home composting takes effort, but the results speak for themselves. You get out what you put in!
4. Add compost back to soil: Apply finished compost to enrich lawns, garden beds, and tree bases.

For large properties, backyard piles may not be practical. Bulk pickup or local compost drop-off services make disposal easier.

Mulching with Leaves

Not all leaves need to be composted right away. Shredded leaves make an excellent mulch for protecting soil through the winter. A 2–3 inch layer of shredded leaves:

• Helps insulate soil
• Prevents erosion during seasonal rains
• Suppresses weeds in planting beds
• Returns nutrients to the soil down

For larger applications, combine your shredded leaves with mulch blends like Compost Mulch to provide long-term protection and soil improvement.

Yard Waste Pickup Services for Businesses

Businesses, schools, and organizations with cafeteria food waste, landscaping debris, or seasonal leaf cleanup can streamline disposal with compost pickup services. Instead of hauling waste to the dump, compost pickup ensures organic material is recycled locally and repurposed into usable products like compost and mulch.

By working with The Compost Company, organizations gain:

• Regular scheduled pickups
• Waste diversion reporting for sustainability metrics
• Cost savings compared to landfill disposal
• Peace of mind knowing waste is recycled responsibly

For households or smaller cleanups that don’t generate enough for a scheduled pickup, The Compost Company also offers convenient drop-off sites across Nashville. This way, both businesses and households can keep organic waste out of the landfill and support local sustainability.

Final Thoughts

Leaf drop doesn’t have to mean endless bags of waste heading to the landfill. By turning yard waste into compost, mulching with shredded leaves, or arranging regular services, property owners and businesses can turn a seasonal chore into a long-term investment in soil health and sustainability.

Ready to put your yard waste to work? Whether you’re a business looking for scheduled pickups, or a homeowner searching for a local drop-off site, The Compost Company makes yard waste management simple and sustainable.