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Research shows that over 8 million pumpkins in the United Kingdom will be tossed into the trash after Halloween. That’s a lot of food waste.

The pumpkin waste amounts to about 18,000 tons of pumpkin, including flesh and seeds. The research was done by Hubbub and Knorr. Their joint research found that 40% of UK consumers buy pumpkins to carve, but 60% report they do not use the pumpkin after carving and instead throw it out.

Hubbub spokesperson Tessa Tricks said of the waste, “It’s all too easy for people to forget that Halloween pumpkins are still food. When they are only used for carving this contributes to the £15bn of food waste in UK homes every year.”

The United States is also known for its Halloween festivities, including pumpkin carving. An estimated 1.91 billion pounds of pumpkins are grown each year in the United States.

So what should you be doing with your pumpkin once it’s carved? Well first off, it is edible. Find some pumpkin recipes and get going. Check out these One Green Planet pumpkin recipes:

Pumpkin seeds can also be roasted and used as a snack. Or they can be made into milk. Pumpkin can also be used in beauty products. Its nutrition benefits make it great for your skin.

If you don’t want to use the pumpkin to eat or in beauty products, make sure you are disposing of it in a compost or food waste only bin.

Read more One Green Planet news about Halloween waste.

For more Animal, Earth, Life, Vegan Food, Health, and Recipe content published daily, subscribe to the One Green Planet Newsletter! Also, don’t forget to download the Food Monster App on iTunes – with over 15,000 delicious recipes it is the largest meatless, vegan and allergy-friendly recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy!

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