EVERYONE loves some Halloween fun, but each year millions of pumpkins are thrown away at the end of the season.
This year, Wokingham Borough Council urges residents to make full use of their orange friends, and help reduce waste.
It outlines three key actions that everyone can take, using information from environmental charity Hubbub.
First, it recommends choosing smaller pumpkins, which are often tastier and less watery.
Secondly, it suggests decorating pumpkins instead of carving them: edible paint on the outside can preserve the winter squash for longer.
Lastly, the council says – eat them.
All parts of the pumpkin are edible, except the stalk, so people can experiment with soups and curries.
Anything uneaten can be composted or recycled with food waste.
If a pumpkin is too large to fit inside a food caddy, it can be left beside the black food waste bin on collection day, says the council.
Its waste collection team will take it away to make energy and fertiliser.
For more information, and for some tasty pumpkin recipes, visit: hubbub.org.uk and wokingham.gov.uk
