One way residents can decrease their odds of attracting bears this fall is by taking their leftover pumpkins to designated drop-off points in Bayfield and Durango.

Residents with leftover pumpkins, gourds, other fruit and leaves are invited to participate in the 2021 annual Pumpkin Drop-Off. The drop-off service is being hosted by the city of Durango and Pine River Shares of Bayfield in partnership with the CSU Extension Office, The Good Food Collective and Bear Smart Durango.

The annual pumpkin drop-off is scheduled from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 1-2 at the La Plata County Fairgrounds in Durango and Pine River Shares in Bayfield.

The Pumpkin Drop-Off project has received more fruit every year since its inception.

Thirty-three hundred pounds of pumpkins, 200 pounds of apples and over 1,650 cubic feet of leaves were saved from being dumped in the landfill last year, according to the city of Durango.

In 2019, 722 pumpkins totaling nearly 6,000 pounds were donated to local farmers and ranchers through the drop-off project and 52 bags of leaves were composted. In the year before, 180 bags of leaves were received as well as 300 pumpkins.

“Pumpkins that end up in landfills break down slowly, releasing greenhouse gas emissions in the process,” according to a news release by the city of Durango.

Pumpkins and other fruit collected at the drop-off locations will be donated to farmers and ranchers who will put the fruit to use as animal feed, and leaves will be used as compost. The practice is a sustainable alternative to throwing the fruit away or leaving them outside one’s home where they might attract bears.

Participants are asked to make sure pumpkins and fruit are free of common Halloween additions such as candles, wax, paint and bleach, and that leaves are not sprayed.

Volunteers are needed to help with the event. Residents can sign up for a two- or three-hour shift.

cburney@durangoherald.com