Release climate change rage with Pumpkin Smash events happening across Chicago area

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Halloween is over.

It's lights out for all Jack-O-Lanterns. But there's a scarier ending waiting for them at the landfill.

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Rotting pumpkins release harmful greenhouse gases into our air that cause climate change.

But Pumpkin Smash events save the day.

"The premise of a pumpkin smash is to have fun, celebrate the idea of having another way to dispose of a pumpkin around this time of year," said Amy Bartucci, Administrator of Illinois Food Scrap & Composting Coalition.

The coalition partners with SCARCE, an Addison-based group that started pumpkin smashing events back in 2014.

"I've seen smashing with hammers or bats, I've seen catapults," said Bartucci. "New this year is a little place to undress a pumpkin so that some of the things that people like to decorate pumpkins are removed before the smash."

That's because glitter, stickers and candles are not good for our soil.

SCARCE has been able to save over 1,000 tons of pumpkins in Illinois. And because pumpkins are mostly water, Bartucci said hundreds of thousands of gallons of water have also been rescued from landfills and put right back into our soil.

But composting doesn't end with pumpkins. Bartucci and her family have been saving their kitchen and food scraps for more than a decade.

"Food waste in the home is the largest source of food waste across the country," said Bartucci.

It's also important to be responsible about where pumpkins and other organic waste is dumped.

"It is not okay to just dump a pumpkin in the forest preserves," said Bartucci.

It's illegal. And rotting or decorated pumpkins can harm wildlife.

"A smashed pumpkin is better than a rotted pumpkin, so find a place," said Bartucci. "You can have a pumpkin just biodegrade and go back into the soil. And yeah, pumpkins can be composted right in your backyard."

Pumpkin Smashes have already begun in the Chicago area. They are typically held the first Saturday after Halloween but this year the smashing continues on Nov. 9. SCARCE has this interactive map to help you find one closes to you.

This story is part of our Climate Ready series - a collaboration between ABC News and the ABC Owned Television Stations focused on providing practical solutions to help you and your family adapt to extreme weather events and the current challenges of climate change.