Be sure to dispose of your pumpkin guts and seeds properly. Never put them down your sink or flush them down the toilet!
Pumpkin guts are sticky, seedy, and stringy and can stick to the inside of your pipes or wrap around the blades in your garbage disposal creating a terrifying clog. When pumpkin innards dry, they become sticky like glue and could cling to the sides of your pipes causing unwanted build up and result in a clog. If the seeds do make it past your garbage disposal without burning or jamming it up, they are sure to cause a clog as well. Clogged pipes not only create a mess and cost you money, but they also create unnecessary water waste. Flushing the guts and seeds down the toilet can result in an even more horrifying scene than an overflow in your kitchen.
Follow these tips to prevent clogged pipes this fall:
- Carve your pumpkins on newspaper or garbage bags for an easy clean up. You can easily wrap your guts up with the paper and throw them in a trash receptacle or add them to a compost pile.
- Pile pumpkin guts into a bowl so you can separate the seeds and pulp for cooking tasty treats such as pie, butter, risotto, bisque or simply roast the seeds.
- Wash the sticky guts off your hands using an outside spigot or wipe them down with a paper towel until the pumpkin is completely removed before washing your hands in the sink.
After Halloween is over:
- Dispose of your pumpkins by throwing them in the garbage or compost, or get creative and make a planter out of them.
- Bury it! If you don’t have a compost heap but still want to dispose of your old jack-o-lantern in an eco friendly way, you can simply bury it. Microbes and other critters in the soil will set to work eating up your old pumpkin and turning it into rich soil.
- Air dry and save your seeds to plant in the spring to grow your own Halloween pumpkin next year.