Kathryn Peterson, 7, takes a bat to her Jack ‘O Lantern at the ninth annual Pumpkin Smash held at the Cloverdale Thrifty Foods. The Greater Victoria Composting Centre, Thrifty Foods and Ellice Recycle sponsored the event encouraging residents to compost their Halloween pumpkins instead of sending them to the landfill.
It is estimated that about 730 tons of pumpkin are added to the landfill where they could take decades to decompose when buried under waste. Pumpkins were smashed as they were put into bins or were used in a bowling game for a donation to the Greater Victoria Compost Centre.