A frightening 18,000 tonnes of pumpkins are thrown away each year- enough to provide a bowl of soup for each person in the UK. Those are some of the scariest stats ever. Stick around for some tricks (and treats) on how to reduce the amount of food you throw away this Halloween.

No ifs or buts, use your pumpkin guts
Once scooped out your carefully carved jack-o-lanterns, most people shamefully chuck their pumpkins innards away. The thing is, that’s really wasteful- especially as they can be used in a whole heap of ways.

A frightening 18,000 tonnes of pumpkins are thrown away each year- enough to provide a bowl of soup for each person in the UK. 3 in 5 people in the UK alone will buy a pumpkin this year- that’s 35 million. Of that 35 million, 14 million pumpkins will go uneaten.

• Blind bake some pastry in a dish.

• Roast pumpkin flesh in the oven, strain out excess liquid and then blend.

• Whisk up some eggs.

• Put cream, sugar and spices into a pan over heat and whisk up.

• Add to the eggs and whisk again, then add the pumpkin and whisk it all together.

• Pour it all into the pastry, and bake in the oven until it’s got a little wobble to it.

• Enjoy with ice cream.

• Cut pumpkin into chunks and heat in a pan until it starts to soften.

• Add vegetable or chicken stock, salt & pepper, heat through until the pumpkin is very soft. Then add double cream to the pan and heat through.

• Blend it up and you’re done! You can even freeze once cool and be kept for up to 2 months.

• TOP TIP: enjoy with crusty warm bread and butter.

• Pumpkin, carrot and walnut cake

• Pumpkin meringue pie

• No-bake pumpkin cheesecake

There are so many ways you can treat your dogs, both big and small, to some tasty pumpkin treats this Halloween.

It’s approved by vets, high in fibre, stuffed with vitamins and minerals, and yummy too!
Roast the seeds in the oven and crush them up to add to the top of their dinner. You can easily whip up some treats using pumpkin, flour, and dog safe peanut butter. Chop it up, roast the pieces, and blitz it into a puree- it’s great to spread on lick mats and inside enrichment toys!

We’re not telling you how to enjoy the spooky festivities- just asking you to think twice before throwing food away. There are endless ways to save pumpkin waste from the bin and instead find it new (short-term) homes in desserts and soups. Get creative, try new things, and get spooky doing so.