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
tywupumo-163648998389over 3 yearsI like pumpkin pie
dogoannaover 3 yearsI Can't believe how many pumpkins go to waste! I am more aware now
minecrafter68over 3 yearsi just have a pumkin siting at my door and its not even carved its been there for like a week
ryanb1over 3 yearsi love pukinpie thats why i pick it reply plece and like
tvesha8animeover 3 yearsAfter Halloween, each year, we make pumpkin soup outta them. We buy like 3 pumpkins and we donate the soup to beggars and poor people like 2 to 3 days after Halloween. In 2018, we forgot one pumpkin in the garden and now there is a pumpkin patch there, the patch cover 15% of our garden 😆 Recipe for pumpkin soup: 🎃 🎃 + 🍲 Pumpkin + Soup
daproover 3 yearslol
nauenover 3 yearsawesome!
playstationxmasover 3 yearsWe always leave the pumpkins up 'til they start rotting, which is usually long after Halloween. And once they start, we put them outside in the backyard so animals, like birds, squirrels, chipmunks, bunny rabbits, and whatever else that comes to the backyard, can eat the pumpkins. And if nothing eats the pumpkins, then they will turn into plant food.
splatcomet00over 3 years2 words pumpkin pie
dreprimeover 3 yearspumpkin candy cane
Mr. Ezraover 3 yearsLast Halloween, I carved a pumpkin for the first time, but now that I think about it, it will probably be my last.