It’s become a popular post-Halloween ritual in the Bronx—the Pumpkin Smash at Lehman College, sponsored by NYC Compost Project, an initiative of the City Department of Sanitation.

On Nov. 4, the community was once again invited to constructively channel their inner goblins, to create compost for greening local parks. The New York Botanical Garden contributed an impressive display of hundreds of fading gourds and pumpkins for dropping, and neighbors could donate their own drooping jack-o-lanterns as well.

Participants chose a straight drop from the two-story plaza onto a tarp below, or a catapult rigged to propel the gourds onto a target.  Lehman College’s President, Dr. Ricardo R. Fernẚndez, assisted with the smashing. The college, a composting pioneer since 2009, displayed The Rocket, a closed system that processes almost 12 gallons of food scraps a day from their food services department, one of only two such U.K.-designed devices in use in the city.

There were plenty of free snacks and compost information, plus exercise opportunities. After lifting and hurling gourds for the compost pile, attendees could jump on a stationary bicycle rigged to a blender and make their own pumpkin smoothies, or try some homemade pumpkin bread, local Honeycrisp apples, and Bronx Greenmarket Hot Sauce, made from Serrano peppers grown in the borough’s community gardens.

Jack-o-lanterns are still welcome at food scrap drop-off sites.  Find a location near you by searching online at: on.nyc.gov/foodscrap-dropoffs.