The UK produced a staggering 10 million pumpkins this year, most destined to end up outside doorways with spooky designs carved into them.
While 95% of pumpkins will be carved up, only 5% of them go on to be used as food. This leaves a lot of pumpkin going to waste – an estimated 70-75,000 tonnes.
While it may be easy to just chuck the innards in the general waste bin and assume that the pumpkin will decompose somewhere, it’s important to note that it will first go to landfill and produce methane, which damages the earth’s ozone layer.
All parts of a pumpkin can be recycled, and popped into the food bin to be turned into compost.
Ideally however, they will be eaten, so here are three ideas for what to do with your pumpkin.
Why not try pumpkin soup? This uses the inside fleshy part of the vegetable and can be great for a cold winter lunch or a starter for a dinner party.
Alternatively, as a great side for dinner time try roasted pumpkin wedges, simply sprinkle with some seasoning and voila! Delicious.
Finally, if you have more of a sweet tooth you can even make a pumpkin cake. Who knew?
For more pumpkin cooking ideas, have a look at Tesco’s 10 best pumpkin recipes.