10 Smart and Silly Ways Washington Can Repurpose Old Pumpkins

You see them everywhere you go this time of year. On porches, in the grass, deteriorating on the sidewalks, and rolling into the streets. It’s the leftover pumpkins from Halloween. What can you do with them, now that the holiday is over? We have some ideas, some serious, some silly. Check them out below.

When the Scary Jack-o-lantern becomes Scarier With Age

Whether it’s laziness, no time to deal with them, or you have no idea what to do with them, the pumpkins that were so joyful and spooky several weeks ago are now getting more and more scary by the day.

Steve Lieman via Unsplash

Most people just chuck it in the garbage, but we have some ideas that are a bit more useful to your Washington state communities and some ideas that are funny (before you chuck it in the garbage). Let’s get into it.

5 Useful Ways to Deal With Your Decaying Gourd/Pumpkin

Use it as Compost

Pumpkins (especially when they’re carved) can break down pretty fast. You’ve seen it happen on your porch, well, put it in your garden or compost box and add some great organic material to your soil.

Donate To A Farm/Animal Feed

Many farms or Wildlife Centers accept old pumpkins to use as feed for their livestock. Pigs, goats, etc. They love it.

Steve Smith via Unsplash

Wildlife Feeder

Scoop it out, or if it’s already carved, make the holes a little bigger. Fill it up with seeds or nuts, place it outside, and watch the birds and squirrels enjoy.

Seed Harvest

As long as it’s not too old or molding, get the seeds! Roast them for a snack, or plant them for future pumpkins!

Alex Dadukin via Unsplash

Garden Enrichment

Much like the compost idea, cut up the pumpkin and actually bury it in your garden. Worms will enjoy it, and it’ll help enrich the soil for the upcoming spring. I’ve also seen it blended up in a blender and spread around the garden and shrubs as a type of fertilizer. If you go the blend route, don’t use the seeds.

5 Funny Ways To Deal With Your Decaying Gourd/Pumpkin

Pumpkin Bowling League

You got the idea, get some empty cans, clear your driveway, and channel your holiday Big Lebowski.

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Passive-Aggressive Scent Diffuser

If you have someone in your life you want to annoy, sit it outside their room (or hide it inside if you want them to play the game ‘Find The Smell’). After all, nothing sends a better message to ‘Clean Up Your Life’ than a rotting pumpkin.

A Pumpkin Piñata

Fill with candy (or don’t). Treat it like you’re in a Halloween Rage Room and channel your inner Gallagher and hit that sucker!

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Play Dress Up

Cover it with feathers and turn it into a weird, deteriorating turkey for Thanksgiving. Or put a white beard and hat and make children who see it question why Santa’s face is Orange and collapsing into itself.

Become A Popular Online Streamer

If it hasn’t been done yet (which I’m sure it has), make sure it has a face, set up a non-stop camera stream of it, and get it on YouTube or Twitch. If a jar of peanut butter can get that many viewers, why not your rotting pumpkin? Plus, you might make some money in streaming revenue, you never know.

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