With Halloween in the rear view mirror, Sustainable Southbury is once again teaming up with local farms to give pumpkins a second life as animal feed.
Residents can drop off their unpainted, undecorated pumpkins and gourds at several Southbury farms from now through December 5. The collection sites are open daily from dawn to dusk.
Participating farms include:
- Lone Oak Farm, 227 Bates Rock Rd
- Aradia Farm, 1008 Bullet Hill Rd
- Breezy Knolls Farm, 507 Jeremy Swamp Rd
- Flat Hill Farms, 614 East Flat Hill Rd
- Manville Farm, 580 East Flat Hill Rd.
Each location will have a marked area — such as bins or wagons — where pumpkins can be placed.
Organizers stress that only clean, natural pumpkins are accepted. Anything with paint, glitter, wax, metal, or decorations should not be dropped off, as those materials can harm livestock.
“If you can’t eat it, neither can the animal,” the group notes.
The effort keeps pumpkins out of the trash and helps local farmers feed their animals. Each year, about 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkins end up in landfills or incinerators nationwide, creating methane emissions and driving up waste costs.
The drop-off is part of Sustainable Southbury’s Food Waste Reduction Program, which also includes a food scrap collection site at the Town Transfer Station and education for residents and restaurants about cutting food waste.
More information is available at www.sustainablesouthbury.org or by emailing info@sustainablesouthbury.org.
The Southbury Record 