Fright fans keen to green their Halloween are being urged not to waste the food goodness of this month’s scary pumpkin displays.
Easy recipes to turn pumpkin flesh and seeds into tasty treats are among lots of simple advice about wasting less food from Somerset’s Green Routine waste prevention campaign.
October’s “tasty treats” campaign theme could bring big savings, as the average family throws away £13 a week of food that could have been eaten – more than £50 a month or £600 a year.
With some householders discarding food waste into refuse bins, its weight and organic nature contributes millions to Somerset’s £11m bill for landfilling waste that decays and pollutes.
And Somerset’s new anaerobic digestion (AD) facility offers a powerful new argument for recycling any unavoidable food waste into electricity using methane producing “burping bacteria”.
Green Routine is inviting everyone in Somerset to try the Love Food Hate Waste challenge for a few weeks to see what they waste and find ways to save cash yet eat well, such as:
Keep a food waste diary to see the savings that can be achieved.
Before shopping, plan meals and make a list (and stick to it).
Keep pad and pen in the kitchen to record as things run out.
Buy foods that can be used for several different dishes for flexibility.
Find food with long use-by dates or fresh items for freezing if required.
Check fridge, freezer and cupboards weekly to stop unplanned purchases.
And do not forget that pumpkins past their prime can be recycled at home to become compost, or cut up and added to the food waste container to become clean, green power.
For more tips and tools, plus the chance to sign up for free emails of waste saving ideas, find Green Routine on the Somerset Waste Partnership website: www.somersetwaste.gov.uk