No Fun in Funkins: A Case Against Plastic Carvable Pumpkins
However, I was in Joanne's Fabrics the other day, looking for some last-minute Halloween stuff for my costume, and I came across what I thought were decorative pumpkins (I.e. ones for your living room that won't attract flies after a week)... but I was wrong.
I read a little further and found out what they were. They were "Funkins" fake, plastic, carvable pumpkins. That's right, fake pumpkins. Apparently, someone thought that there was a need for a fake pumpkin that you can carve just like real pumpkins, but will last forever and not be such a mess. I went home to look up more about them and here's what I learned from their Frequently Asked Questions page.
Funkins are made of patented low-density polyurethane foam and are painted with polyurethane paint.
Oh, this sounds terrific for the environment. Instead of biodegradable material - like a real pumpkin which can be composted, fed to farm animals, left for squirrels - we have more chemical compounds that will last forever in a landfill. How bad is it to breathe this stuff when you're cutting and scraping it, I wonder?
The walls of Funkins are about one half of one inch thick (varies with size of Funkin). And Funkins are already hollow. This makes them just as easy to carve as real pumpkins (without the gutting and the mess) and very realistic looking.
Are we that oversensitive that we don't want to touch the "goo" inside pumpkins anymore?!
Never use real flames inside Funkins, this could result in fire or the release of harmful gas. There are plenty of options available for lighting Funkins and pumpkins that are safer than real flames such as the Funkins Pumpkin Light and the Funkins Battery Operated Tealight.
Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Not only are they fake, they're going to poison me to death if I put a candle in it. I am not making this up - the italisized text comes direction from funkins.com. So, now, they've got you buying their lighting products, too, to put inside their toxic plastic pumpkins. More landfill refuse.
I have a lot of problems here, but even the fact that you can buy them online defeats the purpose. As a kid, every October, we would go out to the country with my family and get a pumpkin from the "pumpkin farm." It was a whole sensory experience, and I remember the leaves being crispy, the smell of the fields, the hayrides, cider, maple candies, sunset and the colors of the leaves and pumpkins, the feeling of my little boots squishing in the mud. I loved that - and it became a family event to carve them too.
In today's hectic family lives, we've already lost so many family activities. Eliminating the trip to a special "pumpkin farm" in the country, by having a sterile, plastic pumpkin come in a box in the mail (probably packed in Styrofoam) robs children of the whole experience! They don't even smell like pumpkins. They may look good to your neighbors on your porch, but it's a sad faximile of what should be an interaction with nature and even a lesson about farming, harvests and seasons.
I'm sorry but I think that Funkins are one of the worst ideas I've ever heard of. For those of you not convinced, think about this. A typical, medium sized pumpkin (real one) costs between $7-10 usually depending on weight and where you get it. The prices for a typical funkin are between $30 and $40 each. What normal family can afford that?
I just don't understand why people would want this. Sometimes, fake replacements for things have a good reason. There are fake floorings that are identical looking to rare rainforest woods, and prevent their over harvesting by providing a feasible alternative. But, there has to be a good reason first. After twenty minutes of searching I couldn't find one website dedicated to why we should stop carving pumpkins, or one reason why its "greener" not to. These replacement pumpkins aren't made of anything natural, and we're doing more harm than good here. They're not safer (obviously, between the fireballs and poison gas) nor less expensive, or more fun somehow. If it isn't broken, don't fix it. Please. I want there to be farmers growing pumpkins around by the time that I have kids, that's all I ask.
Published by Carla Jean
After graduating from the University of New Hampshire, I decided to shift from my biological education to a more communication and writing career. I have been freelance writing since late 2006 and I look for... View profile
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- Never use real flames inside Funkins, this could result in fire or the release of harmful gas.
- Funkins are made of patented low-density polyurethane foam and are painted with polyurethane paint.
24 Comments
Post a CommentUm.....These types of funkins are meant to be used with artificial LED candles, that look just as realistic as real as actual candles from flickering inside the pumpkin. That, and you can use them year after year if you'd like, because the don't rot like real pumpkins.
I guess you've never spent 7 or more hrs carving someone's portrait into a pumpkin, then watching it rot within a week...which i have. So switching to something that would last forever when you put that much time into something artistic is ideal. The price isn't but I can change that. Funkins are really for those trying to something artisic and maybe not really for kids.
I'm delighted with this product. I'm allergic to pumpkins, and I always felt I missed out on carving pumpkins with my kids. These allow me the fun of carving and creating without Benadryl or an epi-pen. I have three of them!!
These things are great for artists. I've been carving real pumpkins for years, but now that I'm off in college living in a dorm room a real one isn't feasible. Also, I hate that they rot away after all the hard work I put into them - especially if I designed them myself. My only problem now is that I can't find them anywhere!
Are we that oversensitive that we don't want to touch the "goo" inside pumpkins anymore?!
Pot meet Kettle!
Polyurethane foam is used to help keep boats afloat if swamped with water. It is used in packing materials, bedding, household insulation, and a myriad of other items. Polyurethane paint is used to paint airplanes, boats, some autos, and a plethora of industrial items. I think you'd be surprised how much is made with these two items. When carving polyurethane foam, the dust falls to the ground. I really like the Funkins idea. What a great way to set up a display that a family can enjoy year after year, kind of like an artificial tree for Christmas. Yes, there is a larger cost up front but one that does not have to be repeated year after year. BTW, I take my boy every year to a pumpkin patch for a hay ride, and to get nice, big pumpkins. I personally think that Funkins are a great addition to Halloween decorating.
I definitely LOVE going to the pumpkin patch every year, but I wanted pumpkins for my centerpieces with flowers coming out of it and it would be too much work to do it with real pumpkins so they wouldn't rot before the reception. I just found Funkins last night and it was SO easy to carve and do what I wanted with. This way I can take my time making them throughout the year and not have to rush hoping they won't rot.
I looove carving real pumpkins, but sometimes that just isn't an option for some individuals. It was a great family event when we were children, as I'm sure it was for many. However, I wish they had created these when my brother and I were children. Sometime around his early teen years, he became allergic to pumpkins! He would break out every time we tried to carve them (he sometimes wore mom's cleaning gloves) and certainly could no longer enjoy pumpkin pie.
this is a great option for people who, like my brother, are allergic to all things pumpkin. Including touching them, and their innards.
I'd just like to say that I'm really excited about this product! My husband and I LOVE Halloween and have our first child who just turned one! My husband is in the military and is deployed right now. Funkins gives me the option to send him a carvable pumpkin that he can keep in his office and then send back home to us!!! To me this is wonderful! I don't think this takes the place of real pumpkins, I mean half the fun is the mess of all the guts! This is going to give me the opportunity to make my husband feel a little less isolated from the things he loves...a winner in my book. I would just like to mention...you were fine with this when you thought it was a decoration for the living room, but once you found out it was for carvin you ranted about the environment....what changed...its still a decoration! Okay, just my take on it!
Ok I get your point... but seriously you just being annoying. Just get over it and stop whining. So you want save the world and prevent your self from breathing polyurethane scraps floating in the air, guess what theres a simple solution just DON'T buy them... and seriously if someone is dumb enough to put a lit candle in plastic pumpkin they shouldn't even be allowed to use fire and especially materials used for carving pumpkins. So please don't think that were all so naive and/or just plain stupid, because at the end of the day there are people like you with sticks up their asses that everything to far and to seriously.. Don't worry all your overprotection is making up for all the people who just don't care.