Recycling chiefs are urging Merseysiders to compost their pumpkins next week – with Halloween falling on Tuesday October 31st – as local children gear up for another night of trick-or-treating and scary costumes.
Carl Beer, Director of Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA), said: “Pumpkins don’t just make enchanting lanterns and hearty soups, they can also be fantastic for your garden.
“Feeding your garden with pumpkin is easy, just put your pumpkin shells, seeds and pulp onto a compost heap when Halloween has finished. It’ll make great quality compost combined with leaves and twigs. Alternatively, next time you are visiting one of our Household Waste Recycling Centres bring along your pumpkin and put it in one of our green waste recycling containers where it will go on to be composted.”
Over one million pumpkins are sold every year in the UK, with many of their shells being decoratively carved into faces, or ‘jack-o’-lanterns’.
Cllr Kevin Cluskey, Chairman of MWDA, said: “We want everyone to enjoy themselves this Halloween, but would remind people not to create too much waste, and that what is created is either re-used or recycled.”
Notes:
• Good compost needs a combination of ‘brown’ ingredients like leaves, twigs and shredded paper and ‘green’ ingredients like kitchen peelings (and pumpkins!). This combination ensures that your kitchen and garden waste breaks down and is neither too wet nor too dry.
• You can make a good winter soup using pumpkin chunks with cream and spices like garlic and chilli. You can also grow your own pumpkins by sowing the seeds the following spring.