Pumpkin waste is a Halloween horror

Halloween has become our third biggest holiday event after Christmas and Easter – and the second biggest party night after New Year’s Eve – but it’s a rather scary Halloween fact that a quarter of all pumpkins bought for the event will end up in the bin once the party’s over – that’s 18,000 tonnes of waste across the UK…

But this year help is at hand – Hubbub and Buckinghamshire County Council are asking Bucks residents to join them in the #PumpkinRescue, which offers lots of ways to make use of your pumpkin once the carving’s complete. We’re encouraging residents to cook what they carve, roast up the seeds, or even use the flesh to make mulled wine!

It’s true that not all of your pumpkin is edible – and once you’ve finished enjoying your scary squash, the hollowed-out skin is ideal for the compost bin, or the skin and other remains can go into your kerbside food recycling to help us generate green electricity.

Cllr Bill Chapple OBE, County Council Cabinet Member for Planning & Environment, commented on the campaign: “Although pumpkins help to make Halloween a fun occasion, there’s an environmental downside to the increasing popularity of this tradition – and that’s the large amount of waste being created. Pumpkin Rescue is a light-hearted response to an important issue which provides additional seasonal ideas such as cooking recipes that mean that less of your pumpkin goes to waste.

“So have a great Halloween party – and why not add some #PumpkinRescue magic!”

www.hubbub.org.uk/Event/eat-your-pumpkin-and-join-the-pumpkinrescue