The Frightful Truth About Halloween Pumpkins
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Every October, families rush to pumpkin patches to pick out the perfect gourds. Some use them to carve spooky jack-o'-lanterns, while others place them outside their homes as decor. Unfortunately, the fascination with the colorful fruit fades once Halloween ends, and most pumpkins end up in the trash.
A 2020 poll conducted by the UK-based non-profit Hubbub found that over fifty percent of the 24 million Halloween pumpkins that British citizens bought that year were destined for the landfill. Things are no better in the US, where about a billion pounds of pumpkins get tossed out and left to rot in landfills annually. In addition to the massive amount of food waste generated, the rotting fruit also emits large amounts of methane — a greenhouse gas even more potent than carbon dioxide.
Fortunately, this pollution problem is easy to solve. We can all help eliminate the food waste by keeping the edible portions of the fruit during carving. Roasted pumpkin seeds make a nutritious snack, while the flesh can be transformed into a delicious soup, a tasty puree, or a lip-smacking pie.
Once Halloween is over, drop your jack-o'-lanterns at a local compost collection center if possible. Better still, see if your city or town hosts a pumpkin smashing event and have fun tossing yours on the ground with your friends. Don't worry, the remains will be collected and composted once all the gourds have been smashed.
There are many other ways to ensure the fruit does not end up in landfills. Fill your hollowed-out pumpkins with grains and leave them in the yard or hanging from a tree for birds, squirrels, and other garden critters to enjoy. If your pumpkin is too far gone to salvage, bury it in your backyard — your garden will be all the happier for it.
Have a safe and sustainable Halloween!
Resources: sciencealert.com, theatlantic.com, hubbub.org.uk
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220 Comments
unicorngirl29over 3 yearsYou should see my pumpkin right now it looks like it has acne.
popster2twinneyover 3 yearsI don’t like pumpkin soupp
adahmiover 3 yearsMe neither.
pasteleaover 3 yearsI.grew.some in my garden so I am.good! Happy Halloween!🎃 Can not wait to go trick or treating tomorrow! I am going with some friends!☺ Remember be safe trick or treating!
foomillionover 3 yearsCool! 🎃- foomillionover 3 yearsI've never gone trick or treating 😢 I've never even been to a Halloween party! Let alone dress up,what's it like?
voltage12over 3 yearsA Halloween party is fun but it's basically the same as trick or treating but with lights and a lot of people you still get candy and dress up and sing and that's about all I did last year at the Halloween party that one of my friends hosted and I went to.
saphege_emsover 3 yearsrly??? trick or treating's rly fun with friends! not only do you get to hang with friends but you get free candy as a bonus! I haven't been to a halloween party tho so i can't rly answer that one.
lollipopsaholicover 3 yearsIts really fun just make sure to jot down the houses that give out toothbrushes, floss, rasins, or whoppers and skip them.- adahmiover 3 yearsDressing up is very fun! You can be a vampire, werewolf, zombie, ect. I have never been to a Halloween party, so I don't know what those are like, but trick-or-treating is fun! You get to hang out with friends and go around to people's houses saying trick-or-treat and getting candy.
summer_beachover 3 yearsI honestly don't like it that much. I am not allowed to go trick or treating any more. I go too a fall party at my Mamaw's house. You aren't missing out on the fun!
snowflake_sugarover 3 yearsOhhhhh. I should be taking care of pumpkins, and I can not wait for Halloween!
yashironeneover 3 yearsBtw happy Halloween!!!!!!- yashironeneover 3 yearsI usually just put it in my garden
xmarcelaxover 3 yearsI won't let my pumpkins go to waste. Halloween is tomorrow!!
sunfunover 3 yearsCool!
moonlight2011over 3 yearswow
cute_raindropover 3 yearsSO COOL!!! we should take care of the pumpkins!