The jack-o'-lantern on the front step has one more job to do. The Town of Riverhead is holding a Pumpkin Smash on Saturday, November 7, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the town's yard waste facility at 532 Youngs Avenue in Baiting Hollow. Bring the pumpkins, break them apart, and the town composts every one of them on site.

What happens at the smash

The idea is simple: instead of bagging a soft, sagging pumpkin with the household trash, residents carry it to the place where Riverhead already turns leaves and brush into compost, and give it a final send-off there. The town's own flyer for the day promises one last smash for every jack-o'-lantern and pumpkin that comes through the gate, with the remains going straight onto the compost pile.

The event is free and open to all ages, and it runs rain or shine. That makes it an easy Saturday errand for families with small children, who rarely get permission to throw anything on purpose, and for anyone who carved more pumpkins than they had room to store.

What to bring, and what to leave at home

The town has one firm rule about what it will accept: no candles, no paint and no plastic parts. Compost has to be clean organic material, so a pumpkin that was painted, glittered or fitted with a plastic stem, a battery light or a stick-on face cannot go into the pile. Pull out any candle or tea light before you leave the house, along with anything else that is not pumpkin.

Plain carved jack-o'-lanterns and whole decorative pumpkins are exactly what the event is for, and so are gourds and squash that sat out on a porch through October and are now past eating.

Why compost them

A pumpkin is mostly water and soft fiber, which is what makes it break down quickly into usable soil instead of sitting in a landfill. Holding the event at the town's yard waste facility on Youngs Avenue puts the pumpkins right where the composting happens, and the flyer sums it up in three steps: smash it, compost it, keep it green.

Getting there

The yard waste facility is at 532 Youngs Avenue in Baiting Hollow, in the Town of Riverhead. Plan on parking at the facility and carrying the pumpkins in. Gloves are a good idea for anyone handling a pumpkin that has been outside for a week.

The Pumpkin Smash runs Saturday, November 7, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is no registration and no charge. The town's flyer and other notices are posted on the Town of Riverhead website.

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