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Get rid of 'Jack' in a garden 'groove-yard'

Consider alternative options for getting rid of pumpkins this year

If one-quarter of the households in Metro Vancouver carve a Halloween pumpkin this year, that's about 200,000 jack-o'-lanterns - which equals about 1,000 metric tonnes of shrivelled and sad-looking gourds.

Pumpkins tossed in the trash will end up rotting in the dump.

There, they'll generate methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that causes global warming.

Two-thirds of the methane in the Metro Vancouver region comes from - you guessed it - the region's landfills.

Keeping all those pumpkins out of the dump eliminates about 500 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, so it's worth the effort.

Here's a few ideas of what to do with pumpkins past their prime:

? Get wriggly with worms: Chop your pumpkin up and put it in your backyard composter or your kitchen or balcony worm composter.

The worms will get to work, providing nutrient-rich compost that you can use to grow next year's pumpkin.

? Bury them in the "grooveyard": Dig a shallow trench in your vegetable or flower garden and drop in shredded pumpkin chunks.

Fill in the trench knowing that the nutrients will nourish the ground and act as an excellent, natural fertilizer.

? Say so long at the curbside: If you live in Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, the Township of Langley, Vancouver or White Rock, you can add your pumpkin in your yard trimmings container for regular curbside pickup.

? Learn more: For tips on how to compost, please visit your municipal website or the regional district's website, www.metro vancouver.org.

Check out the Food Recycling/Composting pages at http: //bitly.com/MVFood.

These actions will go a long way to help the Metro Vancouver region reach its goal to divert 70 per cent of the region's waste from landfills by 2015.

Video stories on composting and pumpkins are available on Metro Vancouver's website.

editorial@burnabynow.com