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Carving ghoulish faces in pumpkins is a Halloween tradition, but shocking facts about food waste may make you think again.
Environment group Hubbub revealed the scary truth about pumpkins.
Every year 10 million pumpkins are grown and 95 per cent of these pumpkins are used at Halloween.
This causes 18,000 tonnes of food waste.
According to Hubbub Just under half of people still do not know that carving pumpkins from the supermarket are edible.
To help put a stop to Halloween food waste here are some uses for your pumpkins after trick or treating.
Read also: Why Oxford residents have been waiting weeks for their Royal Mail post
Eat them
Don’t forget pumpkins are edible.
Try roasting the seeds or making a pumpkin soup or curry with the flesh.
However, the stalk is not edible and belongs in the compost heap.
Feed animals
See if you can donate your unwanted pumpkins to animal shelters, zoos or farms. Mayfield Eggs at New Yatt farm in Witney said they will take left over pumpkins.
The farm explained chickens love pumpkins as they are full of vitamins, antioxidants and minerals that can help strengthen Chickens’ immune systems.
However, check before you arrive with dozens of pumpkins as the farm only needs 20 for its chickens.
Pumpkins seeds can also be used to feed the birds, just add them to your bird feeder.
Even though the fruit is safe for many animals and livestock to eat pumpkins can be fatal to hedgehogs.
It is advised to not leave whole pumpkins in the garden close to the ground as it could be a danger for our prickly friends.
Compost
Add pumpkins to your compost heap or put them in your food waste bin.
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