Avon Offers Free Pumpkin Composting to Protect Colorado Wildlife

Aspen —Stop tossing your jack-o'-lanterns in the ditch.

That’s the obvious move, right? The decorations come down, the snow starts falling, and you’ve got a pile of rotting gourd sitting on your porch. Most folks just heave them into the nearest patch of brush or leave them by the curb for the deer to nibble on. It feels natural. It feels free.

It’s also a recipe for disaster.

The Vail Daily ran a piece this week titled "Curious Nature: Give your Halloween pumpkins a second life," and it makes a simple, hard-hitting argument: your pumpkin is not a snack. It’s bait.

According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, leftover pumpkins attract squirrels, raccoons, foxes, and deer. But here in Colorado, the stakes are higher. You’re not just feeding a squirrel; you’re feeding a bear.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife reminds residents that feeding wildlife — whether intentional or accidental — creates problems. Animals that get used to finding free food near homes start returning. They lose their fear of us. That’s when the conflicts start. A bear that thinks your yard is a buffet is a bear that might climb your fence. Or worse, a mountain lion drawn into residential areas by the scent of trapped prey.

The short version? Compost it.

It’s easier than you think, and it keeps the food out of the habitat. Eagle County residents have a few solid options. The Town of Avon is bringing back its free pumpkin composting collection at the Lot 5 Recycling Center, located at 375 Yoder Ave.

There’s a clearly marked pumpkin dumpster there. You can drop off your gourd daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., starting Monday and running through Nov. 30. In past years, this single program has diverted roughly 9,466 pounds of pumpkins from the landfill. That’s a lot of rotting fruit saved from the dump.

One catch: strip the decorations. Remove candles, fake lights, wax, glitter, paint, and stickers. If it’s not compostable, it doesn’t go in the bin.

If you want to keep the habit going past Halloween, Vail Honeywagon offers drop-off spots for food scraps. You can also look into curbside composting through Vail Valley Waste, Vail Honeywagon, or EverGreen ZeroWaste.

The fall season is ending, and winter is coming. Properly disposing of your pumpkin is a small effort with a big payoff. It protects the wildlife and the landscape that make living here worthwhile.

So, next time you’re staring at that hollowed-out orange shell, don’t just throw it away. Take it to Yoder Ave.

Read that again.

Take it to Yoder Ave.