Halloween need not be the Festival of Food waste

It is estimated that in the UK up to four million pumpkins are brought to carve and display over Halloween with the edible flesh of these pumpkins being discarded as waste and ending up with most of the lanterns in landfill. This produces an additional 18,000 tons of landfill waste directly attributable to the Halloween festivities. This, according to the environmental charity Hubbub, is equivalent to 360 million portions of pumpkin pie.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture states that 1.91 billion pounds of pumpkins where grown in the USA in 2014 most of which, as in the UK, where used for carving and then thrown away,

 Much of this waste is due to people being unaware of the versatility of pumpkin flesh as a food or not realising that the fresh discarded when carving the pumpkin can be eaten. It is calculated that in the UK only 33% cook the fresh of the pumpkins they carve out this will leave 12.8 million pumpkins  uneaten this Halloween.

On this basis, farmers are growing acres of food just for it to be thrown away. Families  and all food fanatics can all help reduce waste at Halloween by taking part in, or organising   Covid-19 compliant, Pumpkin Rescue activities.

Although we are limited in what we can do this year community groups, local authorities, Environmental and  Food Groups, Allotment Societies, Schools can also organise Covid compliant activities for their members at home or one the net.

Carve it,  Cook it, Eat it, Compost it 

Join us in reducing pumpkin waste while celebrating Halloween

• Hold a biggest pumpkin competition and donate the pumpkins to a local hospital, community fridge etc. after the event  This could be on the allotment, school or a local garden centre. Allotment Societies in cities or towns could cooperate and hold a city-wide competition.
•  Get creative and carve your pumpkin at home photograph  the pumpkin and carvers at home, or school before sending the photographs to us to include on our carryoncomposting.com website and or post it on the Carry on Composting and NAS  Composting  Facebook page . (Email carryoncomposting1@gmail.com).  Encourage carvers to cook the flesh from the pumpkins
•  Provide pumpkin recipes and cooking advice to friends, community groups, schools, and clubs.
•   Have a Smashing time.    Compost the remains of your carved pumpkin. Join  the   Pumpkin Smash at Stokes Wood  Allotment Compost Demonstration Site  Leicester  In 2019 we had over 100 pumpkins to smash and compost. Join us in 2021 for a smash early in November

Composting Pumpkins      Pumpkin Rescue 2021

I am looking for photos of composting sieves and interesting bin, heaps and techniques to illustrate a book on composting. If you would like to show people your equipment and systems please email me a photo. All photos used will be acknowleded in the text. Please email phot or questions to carryoncomposting1@gmail.com

 Table top Composting : Compostable bags   Day 16.

This second  set of  photos  was taken as the bags start to rot(?) These where taken  on day five of my cold composting of  bags. Samples are from  three compostable bags, two of which where wrappings round magazines while the third was a compostable garden refuse sack.

Each sample has been stretched across an 10cm plastic frame  so that any decomposition can be observed.

The compost materials were  mixed before being added to the “ mini bins” and where  moisten using a spray. The materials were moistened today and will be removed occasionally  to be topped up, remixed and moistened. Photos will be taken during this process and regularly posted on this blog with the full set being shown on the Compostable bag page of www.carryoncomposting.com once we have a few more. The first set of photos is in the blog posted on 12 August

This month I am hoping to be able to show compostable bags decomposing before our eyes in my desk top See-Through Compost Container.  I have taken  samples of  three compostable bags,  two of which where wrappings round magazines while the third was a compostable garden refuse sack.

Each sample has been stretched  across an 10cm special design plastic frame ( the lid and top 2com of a yoghourt  pot) so that any decomposition can be observed.

The compost materials will be mixed before being added to the “ mini bins”  and will be moisten once mixed.  The materials will be removed occasional to be topped up, remixed and moistened. Th Photos will be regularly posted on this blog with the full set being shown on the  Compostable bag page of http://www.carryoncomposting.com/416920209  ( link from this blog Compostable Bags)