According to Hubbub’s great Pumpkin Rescue campaign 15.8 million pumpkins will go to waste this Halloween, carved but not eaten? That’s enough for 95 million meals! 

Here are some great ways to make the most out of your Halloween pumpkin:

• Decorate your pumpkin, don’t carve it. That way the pumpkin will be 100% edible well after Halloween is over.

• Pumpkins are versatile so are great for both sweet and savoury dishes, from pumpkin pie, pumpkin and parsnip battenberg cake to warm autumnal pumpkin soup (see recipes below). These are all delicious autumn dishes and zero waste so great for the environment.

• Roast your pumpkin seeds (see recipe below). This is such an easy and quick snack to have on their own or add to a salad. Pumpkins seeds are both a nurtritious, as they are rich in zinc, and tasty option.

• Save the seeds from this year’s pumpkin to grow next year’s. Pumpkins are best grown in mid to late April in pots of compost indoors and then sown in a sheltered outdoor area in late May to early July.

• An option for the adults is pumpkin mulled wine. Similar to the traditional mulled wine pumpkin and spices are added for a seasonal touch. You can even make pumpkin ale.

• Save your carved pumpkin and use it as a bird feeder. Fill the pumpkin with your leftover pumpkin seeds or bird food and hang outside for wildlife to enjoy. 

• However The Woodland Trust asks that we please do not put our pumpkins on the ground eg in local woods as pumpkin flesh can be dangerous for hedgehogs, attracts colonies of rats and also has a really detrimental effect on woodland soils, plants and fungi. 

• If your pumpkin starts to go off before you have a chance to use it, please put it in your home compost or your council’s food waste collection.