My kiddo went to the pumpkin patch and came home with a perfect pumpkin. Such a fun tradition.
And then, this reminder, from Anne Marie Bonneau, the Zero Waste Chef, came: south of the border in the US, 1.3 billion pounds of uneaten pumpkins end up in landfills in the US after every Halloween. Rough guesstimate, but we probably generate a tenth of that…
In Canada the most prominently wasted foods by weight are:
• Vegetables: 30%
• Fruit: 15%
• Leftovers: 13%
• Bread and Bakery: 9%
• Dairy and Eggs: 7%”
It’s only waste, if we put it in the wrong place.
Bonneau suggests avoiding this sad trash mountain by: 1. eating your pumpkins. 2. Saving the seeds. 3. Feeding them to animals. 4. Composting them. 5.Or looking for a community pumpkin smash if you can’t compost at home.
She posts a host of recipes if you’re looking for inspiration.
We won’t have a local pumpkin smash event this year – COVID-carefulness makes organizing larger gatherings something we’re still putting off for a little bit – but do remember that your pumpkin, post Halloween, will be happier in food scraps or compost bins than in the landfill.
The Wellness Almanac 