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Kane County is hosting a free pumpkin recycling event Nov. 5

Kane County is offering a free pumpkin recycling event this year to help you reduce your waste.

Jack-o'-lanterns, pumpkins and decorative squashes are highly compostable and it is a real shame to just send them to a landfill, when the nutrients they contain could instead be returned to soil that will grow more healthy food.

The recycling event will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Nov. 5, at Pushing the Envelope Farm, 1700 Averill Road in Geneva.

Accepted will be pumpkins and squashes for composting right on a farm. This means NO candles, yarn hair, stickers, googly eyes, plastic ears or plastic of any kind. Only the jack-o'-lanterns themselves can be composted.

See a full list of participating locations for 2016 on SCARCE's website at www.scarce.org/pumpkins/.

Why compost pumpkins?

• They are 90 percent water and are full of nutrients that are good for the soil.

• Support a local farm by providing these nutrients for their gardens.

• Most of the pumpkins processed in the U.S. are grown in Illinois - keep the water and nutrients here.

• Food scraps and organic materials in landfills are the third largest producers of methane, a potent greenhouse gas contributing to climate change.

For information on the Kane County Recycles program, visit www.countyofkane.org.

For questions, contact Jennifer Jarland, Kane County recycling coordinator, at (630) 208-3841 or recycle@countyofkane.org.

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