Villa Park residents can drop off their leftover pumpkins for composting instead of tossing them in the trash at a free Pumpkin Smash event Saturday, Nov. 7.
Go Green Villa Park is hosting the event from 9 a.m. to noon at 39 E. St. Charles Rd., according to the village's online calendar. SCARCE, the Addison-based environmental education nonprofit whose full name is School and Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education, is sponsoring the event.
The pitch is straightforward: bring decaying jack-o'-lanterns and porch pumpkins to be composted rather than adding them to the waste stream. The village listing describes the event as a hands-on opportunity for residents to embrace sustainable practices in Villa Park. The Villa Park VFW and LRS also receive credit for supporting the event.
SCARCE calls the Pumpkin Smash an annual effort on its website. The nonprofit, based at 800 S. Rohlwing Rd. in Addison, has spent more than 35 years working on recycling and composting education across the region, according to its own description. The organization says it is dedicated to keeping materials out of landfills through reuse, recycling and education programs for schools and communities.
The village's Fall-Winter 2026 Village Matters newsletter lists the Pumpkin Smash at Villa Park VFW Post 2801 but shows a date of "Saturday, November 9." Nov. 9 falls on a Monday, not a Saturday. The village's online event calendar and SCARCE's website both list Saturday, Nov. 7.
Residents who miss the Pumpkin Smash still have options for disposing of pumpkins before winter. LRS provides weekly landscape and yard waste collection in Villa Park through Dec. 11, according to the Village Matters newsletter. That service covers the second week of December, giving residents a window to set out pumpkins and other organic material with their regular curbside pickup.
The event is free.
