Stingy Jack tried to cheat the devil and was condemned to walk the earth forever, an ember from Hell burning in his lantern to light his way, or so an old Irish story goes. As part of his punishment, “that forsaken craytur” could find no shelter or place to rest “until the day of judgment.” But the pumpkin you carved to commemorate Jack’s fate can find its final resting place, thanks to Iowa City’s composting program.
As in previous years, the Iowa City Landfill and Recycling Center is asking residents not to put their ex-jack-o’-lanterns in the trash, but put them in yellow-lid organics cart for composting or into their paper yard-waste bag, if they have curbside collection. Those decaying remnants of Halloween can also be brought to the compost facility at the Iowa City Landfill and Recycling Center, located at 3900 Hebl Ave SW. Either way, all candles, electric lights or embers from Hell must be removed first.
Of course, if you decided to go old-school Irish and carved a turnip into a jack-o’-lantern, that forsaken craytur is also welcome as compost.
Pumpkins eh? here’s proper scary, a traditional Irish Jack-O-Lantern made from a turnip. It’s from Baile na Finne, Co. Donegal and now resides at the Irish Museum of Country Life #Halloween #thattimeofyearagain pic.twitter.com/1rYDs3ZdN1
— Irish Archaeology (@irarchaeology) October 31, 2022
