Remember when pumpkins were just a wee bit of spooky fun, chaotically carved in the weeks before Halloween to look like a Gary Busey mugshot? Those were the good ol’ days.

Now, it’s all about assembling an autumn vignette on your porch for the front cover of Southern Living. Piles of uncarved pumpkins in every shade from ghostly white to Cinderella blue and, of course, that ghastly Tennessee Volunteer orange is closely vetted and then perfectly arranged alongside an artfully disheveled throw blanket that you will never use and maybe a flickering lantern as if your home were the last cottage on the edge of the Salem woods in the 17th century.

Sure, it’s charming—if so many of us weren’t living in sprawling subdivisions void of trees or signs of fall in 84-degree heat, where you’re more likely to hear the roar of an interstate than the rustling of autumn leaves.

But at what cost have pumpkins become the spice of our lives?

American farmers grow 2 billion pounds of pumpkins annually. Very few are eaten or repurposed. Most are for ambiance, slowly sacrificed to the aesthetic gods as they start to sag in our increasingly warmer falls to become the world’s messiest compost pile by Thanksgiving.

And once they’ve completed their duties? They rot in landfills faster than you can say “Pumpkin Destruction Day,” an actual holiday celebrated on the second Saturday in November.

At this rate, you may end up on the cover of Wasteful Witch Weekly.

To put it in frightening perspective, 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkin flesh ends up rotting in landfills each year, according to the U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce. Before we even bring one home to carve, each pumpkin consumes 16 gallons of water before being trucked nationwide from the main growing states of Illinois, California, Indiana, and Pennsylvania before ending up next to a porch sign that says: “Stressed, blessed and pumpkin obsessed.”

What about all that methane gas, Stephanie? It’s the wicked witch of greenhouse gasses, around 80 times more harmful than carbon dioxide over 20 years, trapping heat and keeping our planet toasty. Not smores by the fire toasty. More like forest fire toasty.

Landfills are the birthplace of about 17% of all methane emissions in the U.S. Fewer pumpkins mean less methane.

So what can we do instead? Even if yours is already squishy, there are still ways to say goodbye that won’t haunt you forever.

Composting: Forget landfills—your yard is screaming for food! Decomposing pumpkins can boost your soil with nutrients, reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, and help avoid landfill methane. Landfills don’t have much oxygen, so when vegetation breaks down, it produces harmful methane.

Animal munchies: That shriveling jack-o’-lantern is a treat waiting to happen. Farm animals, wildlife, insects, and even exotic parrots would be delighted to snack on your leftover pumpkin. It’s a food waste win and gives local ecosystems a boost (this is a Halloween pun). Boost, like “boo.” Serve it raw.

Get cooking: A culinary dark horse, pumpkin flesh can be transformed into soups, pies, or anything autumn-inspired. Roast the seeds for a healthy snack. Want to get fancy? Try one of 50 recipes out there and let me know because I won’t be doing it.

Pumpkin planters: You already hollowed out at least some of your pumpkins, right? They make the perfect biodegradable planters for herbs or flowers. And as they decay, they also feed the plants. It’s nature’s way of recycling.

Crafts and decor: How did you get into this mess in the first place? You’re too crafty. Why not keep upcycling your pumpkins instead of buying new holiday décor? You can make candle holders. What about a snowman’s head for Christmas? Or, hear me out: a nativity scene made of just pumpkins. Amen.

Big animal donations: Some zoos and farms are happy to accept pumpkin donations, adding them to the regular food as extra nutrition. Check with local farms or neighbors because why can’t our food eat our indulgent decorations, right?

DIY facial mask: Put pumpkin straight on your face. It’s high in vitamins A and C. Oh, wait, you should make it into a pumpkin purée first for a DIY face mask that may or may not make you look younger or hundreds of years older. Again, let me know.

Bird feeder: Half a pumpkin filled with bird seeds makes for a charming (and biodegradable) bird feeder that local wildlife will love. When it’s seen better days, tossing it in the compost bin or straight to the yard is easy. But you can also use it as a face mask once the birds have eaten the seeds. Sounds healthy.

Eco lanterns: That solar lantern you bought from Amazon will be broken in a week. If you’re keeping your pumpkins around, why not keep them lit? You could even carve the other side with something less scary.

But wait, there’s more. For you industrially inclined folks:

Anaerobic digestion: Toss pumpkins into an oxygen-free environment, let microorganisms go to town, and voilà: biogas. This gas can be captured and used for heating or power generation. You might have to ask your smart uncle what to do.

Ethanol production: The sugars in pumpkins are perfect for fermentation, which produces ethanol that can be mixed into gasoline as a green fuel additive. Do not make alcohol—Wink wink.

Biomass conversion: Dried pumpkins can fuel biomass burners, producing steam for electricity. Wow. So. Sustainable.

Biodiesel from pumpkin seeds: Though less common, pumpkin seed oil can be converted into biodiesel, a clean-burning alternative to standard diesel fuel.

Or, like me, just don’t buy any pumpkins.