Waste Not; Resurrect Your Pumpkin
A Halloween staple, the pumpkin is as synonymous with the October holiday as spookiness and sweets. However every year over a quarter of the Pumpkins used for Halloween in the UK end up being thrown away - that’s 18,000 tonnes of food waste!
So while we’re big fans of spooky season, we are terrified of waste! So we’ve compiled 5 ways you can keep the spirit going and save on waste too…
- Roast Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds are rich in vitamins and minerals like manganese and vitamin K. You can make a simple and healthy snack by simply roasting them! Scoop them out of your pumpkin, rinse and place on a baking tray. Lightly coat with oil and salt to taste and pop in the oven. Remember not to feed roasted seeds to your non-human animal companions!
This ones for your furry companions! A simple and healthy snack that uses the pumpkin itself. Remember not to bake with any that have paint on them! Simply puree the pumpkin flesh and blend with banana and oat flower, then bake in small scoops. There’s some great recipes out there and you can add peanut butter too! Sub out any recipes that contain eggs with banana.
3. Head to your local sanctuary
This has been our go too for years and pigs especially love pumpkins! Look out for your local sanctuaries calling for your leftover pumpkins and make some animals very happy.
4. Leave for local wildlife - Seeds for Birds, Cut the rest into small chunks for other small animals.
Speaking of sharing with other animals, if you live rurally you can share the pumpkin with your wildlife neighbours. Cut into small pieces, using non-painted pumpkins and distribute them away from your house. You can also leave the uncooked seeds in a shallow bird feeder for our winged friends!
5. Compost your pumpkin
Finally a tip if you can't do any of the above, save them from landfill and compost them. If you don’t have your own compost then look locally for community gardens that may be calling for leftover pumpkins. Composting can be great for soil and will put back nutrients and water instead of rotting away in a landfill!
Let us know if you do any of these tips and if you have any of your own!
Happy Halloween from us at HeartCure!
Sources; https://suffolkrecycling.org.uk/news/news/eat-your-pumpkin
