Want to hear something really scary? Thousands of pounds’ worth of pumpkins will end up in the rubbish this year after they are carved up for a single evening. That’s the equivalent of 1,500 double decker buses in weight! This insane amount of wasted squash isn’t good for anyone, least of all the environment and your wallet. Read on for a bunch of ways on salvaging your pumpkins AND having fun whilst doing it this Halloween!

Happy Halloween, friends! Halloween is officially the third biggest holiday celebrated in the UK, preceded only by Christmas and Easter. Families up and down the country continue to embrace the annual event, buying and carving more than ten million pumpkins a year.

However, with only one evening to enjoy the spooky spectacle, Halloween also serves up a scary food waste problem. In fact, more than 18,000 tonnes of perfectly edible pumpkins end up in the bin over the holiday period. That’s just a huge waste — pumpkins are food and people are starving.

A pumpkin also takes a huge amount of resources, energy and fertilisers to grow before it makes its way to your front garden.

If you want to enjoy the Halloween whilst being mindful of both the environment and your wallet, here are some GreenJinn tips for you!

1. Eat them

If you’ve kept your pumpkin whole, even if it’s been sitting out for a few weeks, it’s probably safe to eat. You can turn your jack-o-lantern into a homemade puree for use in a variety of pumpkin recipes. You can also prepare vegan pumpkin recipes like Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte, Pumpkin Bread, and Pumpkin French Toast (my favourite!) to make the most of pumpkin season.

Most sources do not recommend eating pumpkins that have been carved, since germs can proliferate in the open cuts. If you carved your recently pumpkin, and if it doesn’t seem too dirty, you might be able to salvage a few parts for cooking down into soups or stews though.

2. Bake its seeds

#1. Clean your pumpkin seeds well: Wash them well and discard of pumpkin fibres.

#2. Boil pumpkin seeds before roasting: Boiling before roasting pumpkin seeds helps to cook the insides of your pumpkin seeds so when you do roast them, you will get perfect crunchy pumpkins seeds. Boiling will ensure that the insides are cooked.

#3. Keep a watch on them when they are baking: Go in and move the pumpkin seeds around on the baking sheet every 10 minutes until they are done.

3. Make a facial scrub

If you don’t fancy eating your Jack O Lantern, Pumpkin face scrub is a great way to rejuvenate your skin using ingredients from your pantry. These scrubs can be made in minutes and enjoyed by your entire family. Make a scrub with sugar, coconut oil, spices, and jojoba oil to exfoliate and moisturise tired, dry skin. Or try a face scrub made with pumpkin puree, which is excellent for all skin types!

4. Give them a second life

Instead of throwing them away, pumpkins can also have a second life: food for animals, compost, even fuel. There are facilities around the country that turn discarded pumpkins and other food waste into renewable electricity. Check with your local council to see what’s available.

You have lots of possibilities with pumpkins. Remember, whatever you choose to do, whether you want to eat them or not, be green!

And we have a HUGE gift for you: get 50% off pumpkins at Tesco, Waitrose & Sainsbury’s on GreenJinn until Wednesday 31st!

PLUS we’re giving away 100 free pumpkins at random. To get yours:

1. Use your 50% GreenJinn coupon to buy a pumpkin at Tesco, Sainsbury’s or Waitrose.
2. Post a photo of your pumpkin to your fav social network with the caption ‘Happy Hallow-Green supermarket savings with GreenJinn!‘
   Make sure you tag us correctly on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
3. We’ll choose 100 of you at random over the next 7 days to receive the remaining 50% cashback to make your pumpkin completely free!