For many people, the beginning of November marks the end of Spooky Season and the start of Thanksgiving festivities and holiday shopping. Although this is a celebratory time, it can be disheartening to see the amount of waste that is created during the busy holiday season. Halloween is all about pumpkin carving, brand new costumes, pounds of candy and all kinds of sweet treats. Thanksgiving is represented by a bountiful feast of all your favorite fall foods shared with your family. The end of the year is the season of giving with folks decorating their homes with fake snow, jingle bells, and Christmas trees. After all the festivities are done, the question is left: what do you do with all the leftovers? Below are some different sustainable recycling ideas for all the Halloween leftovers from this season!
Pumpkin carving, one of the oldest Halloween traditions, is something a lot of children grow up doing, carving scary or silly faces into pumpkins, lighting them up with candles, and placing them on their doorsteps. Carving the pumpkins can be a delightful and artistic activity to do with your family, and the end result makes a great outdoor decoration. However, most people just throw away all the remains of their pumpkin after the holiday passes, even if the pumpkin is still good. There are countless ways that every part of a pumpkin can be used, even after a scary face has been carved into it. When carving a pumpkin, all the inside “guts” of the pumpkin are removed. Instead of throwing them away, these can be used to make delicious homemade breads, cupcakes, and even soups! Here are 21 different recipes using leftover pumpkin!
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/leftover-pumpkin-recipes
Just like any other fruit, pumpkins have seeds. And lots of them! The seeds can be removed, baked, and sprinkled with salt to make the perfect salty snack to prepare for the Thanksgiving season. The leftover round pumpkin can be recycled into a sustainable planter for some of your favorite autumn plants. Whole pumpkins can be used as decorative bowls for other dishes like casseroles or soups. You can even play fun family games with leftover round pumpkins, like pumpkin bowling! If none of this sounds appealing, composting your pumpkin can always be an easy way to give back to the earth rather than wasting the leftovers.
The pumpkin lovers here at the SNC wish you and your family a sustainable and festive November!