Seasonal Programs

Pumpkin Reclamation

Turning Halloween Pumpkins into Farm Feed—Not Landfill Waste 

When Halloween ends, thousands of pumpkins are thrown away, adding heavy organic waste to landfills and releasing methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. In New Canaan, there’s a better solution.

Now in our 5th year, Planet New Canaan helps residents reclaim their pumpkins—keeping food waste out of the municipal waste stream and giving pumpkins a meaningful second life.

Join Our Annual Pumpkin Collection

After Thanksgiving, we collect the whole, uncarved, unpainted pumpkins and deliver them to farms in Connecticut and Massachusetts  where cows and pigs happily enjoy them as seasonal feed. 

This year hundreds of residents dropped off pumpkins at Kiwanis Park.

Since launching our pilot program in 2020, participation has grown every year. In 2024 alone we reclaimed 15,000 pounds of pumpkins—turning waste into feed and keeping organics out of landfills.

Tree Recycle

What once sparkled in living rooms now strengthens the ground beneath our feet.

Join Our Annual TreeCycle Collection

Each January, residents are invited to drop off undecorated Christmas trees at Steve Benko Pool. With help from SLOBS volunteers, trees are unloaded and sent for reuse.

This season alone, over 900 trees—100 more than last year— were collected and reclaimed. Most are turned into mulch for local trails, while others are placed along riverbanks to help prevent erosion.

Instead of heading to landfills, your tree becomes a resource right here in our community.

Annual River Clean up with Surfrider Foundation

Since 2018, Planet New Canaan has teamed up with Surfrider Foundation for a river clean up in the area. Volunteers, some wearing waders, collected garbage in and around the Five Mile River. The garbage was sorted and tabulated. A data analysis from what was collected gave us a better understanding of the items entering our rivers. Over 550 pounds of trash was collected over a two-hour period in a recent clean-up. Items included plastic bags, plastic bottles, tires, chairs and even a yoga mat.

Pumpkin Diversion

When Halloween has come and gone, what do you do with your pumpkins? If you put them in the trash, it only adds to the abundant amount of food waste in our municipal waste stream. Food waste is a heavy – and unnecessary – component of the waste stream.

Recycle Pumpkins at Home

Instead…why not recycle your pumpkins? If you have the land and feel comfortable feeding wildlife, throw pumpkins into the woods as a treat for birds, squirrels, chipmunks and deer. As pumpkins are 90% water, they break down in no time.

Include Pumpkins with Your Food Scraps 

Have a transfer station pass? Pumpkins can also be dropped off in the food scrap bins but please chop them up before to help save space in the bins.

Join Our Annual Pumpkin Collection

If you have whole, uncarved and unpainted pumpkins that you used for decoration, Planet New Canaan collects pumpkins after Thanksgiving. We transport the pumpkins to take to a farm for the cows to enjoy. The pilot year in 2020 was a success and made for some happy cows. The first weekend after Halloween, you can find us at the New Canaan Farmers’ Market accepting your whole, leftover pumpkins.

Tree Recycling

Keep Christmas Trees out of the Landfill

Where do Christmas trees go after the decorations and lights come off? If you bring it to your transfer station or have your private garbage hauler pick it up, it’s more than likely your tree is going to a landfill. The problem with putting organic material, like a tree, in landfill is that it decomposes without oxygen and ends up emitting methane, a greenhouse gas that is at least 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide (source: EPA).

Introducing New Canaan's Tree Recycling Program

Planet New Canaan teamed up with New Canaan Department of Public Works in late 2020 to start our Tree Recycling program. Our goal was two fold: keep Christmas trees out of landfill; and reduce hauling fees for the Town of New Canaan.

During the first week of January, residents dropped Christmas trees at Waveny Pool parking lot. Public Works mulched the collected trees, and the resulting mulch was spread at the New Canaan Nature Center. The Service League of Boys (SLOBs) played an invaluable role in collecting the trees and spreading the mulch. In the pilot year (2020), approximately 600 trees were dropped off for mulching.

In 2021, the Exchange Club of New Canaan became a financial sponsor of the Tree Recycling program. As an organization that sells many Christmas trees before Christmas, the Exchange Club is the perfect partner to Planet New Canaan’s Tree Recycling program.

Annual River Clean up with Surfrider Foundation

Since 2018, Planet New Canaan has teamed up with Surfrider Foundation for a river clean up in the area. Volunteers, some wearing waders, collect garbage in and around the 5 Mile River. The garbage is sorted and tabulated. A data analysis from what’s collected gives us a better understanding of the items entering our rivers and how we can work to keep our rivers clean. Over 550 pounds of trashed was collected over two-hour period in a recent clean-up. Items included plastic bags, plastic bottles, tires, chairs and even a yoga mat.