Charlie Ashworth for City News
The environmental charity Hubbub says that around 18,000 tonnes of pumpkin flesh is wasted every year in the UK.

Authorities across London are trying to promote recycling and reduce the amount of waste from pumpkin carving.

Both Lambeth and Southwalk councils held events this month promoting pumpkin based meals whilst Camden shared recipe ideas on Social Media.

The environmental charity Hubbub says that around 18,000 tonnes of pumpkin flesh is wasted every year in the UK.

To put that in perspective, Small Change Big Difference estimate 910,000 tonnes of food in total is wasted every year in London.

These high numbers are partly caused by the fact that 51% of those who buy pumpkins in the UK throw away the innards.

In response, London campaigners are getting creative in the fight against Halloween food waste.

Cut Up Pumpkin showing seeds
Councils are urging people not to throw away pumpkin seeds but instead use them for a delicious autumnal meal.

Hackney-based sustainable food app Too Good To Go has launched a social media campaign to encourage Londoners to re-use their Halloween pumpkins.

The #pimpmypumpkin campaign provides recipes for pumpkin leftovers and aims to make people more aware of the environmental toll of food waste.

Jamie Crummie, co-founder of Too Good To, says “there are so many great ways to use up leftover pumpkin – you could roast the seeds for a tasty snack or use the innards for a soup or stew”.

Dalston Eastern Curve Garden invites the local community to carve over 1,200 pumpkins for their nightly lantern festival in the run-up to Halloween.

The organisers say they compost all the innards to ensure nothing is wasted and that some volunteer carvers take the seeds home.

Pumpkin lanterns
Dalston Eastern Curve Garden is for the local community and carves over 1,200 pumpkins for their nightly lantern festival in the run-up to Halloween. Credit: Charlie Ashworth for City News

There are many possible uses for pumpkin flesh such as pumpkin pie, pumpkin curry, roasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin soup and dried pumpkin seeds for salads and soup.