Carving pumpkins and consuming everything pumpkin-spiced are among my favorite October activities. I embrace the basic status and I don’t hold back. But I also take on the season with the environment in mind. This means that I bring my to-go cup for that PSL and I don’t let a single bit of pumpkin go to waste. Everyone can go green this Halloween!
Keep those pumpkin seeds:
When making jack-o-lanterns, take the extra minute to sort seed from orange guts. Pumpkin seeds are not only nutritious and full of protein, but bake them with some oil, salt and cinnamon for the ultimate fall snack! Trust me, they’re better than popcorn and just as addictive. If you aren’t in the mood for delicious treats, you can also save the seeds to plant in the future. Check out this guide on growing your own pumpkin plants!
3 Words: Pumpkin. Gut. Bread. Cookies!
Yes you read that right! Now that you have removed the seeds, you can use the slimy pumpkin massacre to make bread. Or cookies… sprinkle on some pumpkin spice and decorate with black and orange icing for and be labeled Halloween-obsessed. Haters gonna hate so you do you *high five*.
Feed Raw Pumpkin to Your Pup of Kitty
If you leave your pumpkin out in a squirrel infested area (like my front yard) you might find your jack-o-lantern extra spooky with tiny bites taken out here and there. It’s not just humans and squirrels who love pumpkins. There are many health benefits to incorporating raw pumpkin into your dogs diet. You can find out if they like it by taking that eye triangle piece you just cut out and offering it as a treat. Make sure to remove all skin and seeds when feeding to your furry friends!
Eat ALL the Pumpkin
There are so many ways to prepare a pumpkin. Since I can’t spend the entire day finding and linking recipes, let me give you a few ideas that you can google yourself. Quiche, lasagna, pie, soup, crepes, popovers, gosh there’s even pumpkin pizza… Okay fine, Googling this is very overwhelming as I just discovered so I’ll save you the eye twitching and give you a great link with multiple recipes. You’re welcome!
Compost. Compost. Compost.
No, you can’t turn that sad looking two week old jack-o-lantern into a gourmet dinner, Karen. Sorry. But you can compost it so that it decomposes and helps other yummy things grow, so technically my first statement is incorrect. Take those rotting babies to a nearby pumpkin patch or farm and you will not be turned away!
Pumpkin Smash!
Yes this sounds a lot more fun than composting, but it is essentially the same thing. The first time I heard of a Pumpkin Smash event was in New York City where this is an annual event. My friend Google just told me that this happens in other places too, so maybe you’re lucky and there’s one near you! If there isn’t, I’m sure you could bring a bat to the pumpkin patch and ask super nicely if you can take your pumpkin behind the barn and beat it to a more easily decomposable pulp without making children cry.
There are so many ways to be eco-friendlier and if you’re like me, you’ll want to do it all. But overly ambitious plans can still end with rotting pumpkin in your fridge because there’s only so many days that you can eat pumpkin for! Don’t fret, you can’t always be perfect. If you’re only going to do one thing on this list, make sure it’s composting any leftover pumpkin. Food waste in landfills is becoming a crazy problem that you can read more about here.
Happy halloween everyone! Feel free to share some spooktacular photos in the comment section below. Here’s some of ours from last year 🙂
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