Pumpkins fell from the parking lot of a Winnipeg shopping center on Saturday, part of an annual event aimed at reducing waste in landfills.

Green Action Center’s Pumpkin Drop returned to the Polo Park shopping center for its fourth year, giving people a chance to get rid of their leftover pumpkins after Halloween in a fun way.

“We collect these pumpkins and a portion of them go to the Little Red Barn Animal Sanctuary to feed the animals,” said Karrie Blackburn, sales and customer service leader for Compost Winnipeg. “The pumpkins carved into Jack-O’-Lanterns then go into the compost pile to become finished compost, which returns those nutrients to the food system.”

Blackburn said the event sees thousands of pumpkins each year and it continues to grow with every drop.

“We easily got 2,000 to 3,000 pumpkins,” he said.

Before being dropped from the second level of the park, the pumpkins are inspected to make sure they are free of debris such as candles, glitter or googly eyes.

Once they are dumped into Compost Winnipeg’s collectible bin, they are taken to a facility where they are composted within three to six months.

The compost is then used in remediating landfills, turning them into park-like green spaces, similar to Garbage Hill.

“Our landfills cannot simply be left unmanaged,” Blackburn said. “They have to be taken care of, and covering them with compost prepared to turn them into green spaces is a great way to do it.”

For those who missed the event, Blackburn said you can add your pumpkin to the City of Winnipeg’s leaf and yard waste or take it to any community drop-off location around the city. More information can be found in the city website.