Groundwork North Wales and Refurbs will be holding pumpkin decorating workshops and hosting pumpkin cooking workshops to help inspire the Wrexham and Flintshire community to eat their pumpkins and reduce the number that end up in the bin this Halloween.

According to new research from environmental charity Hubbub, across the country, 30 million1 pumpkins are expected to be bought for carving, of which 16 million2 won’t be eaten.  This is the equivalent of 95 million meals-worth³ of pumpkins set to go to waste, worth £26.7 million4

The events from Groundwork North Wales and Refurbs are part of more than 100 taking place across the country to support Hubbub’s #EatYourPumpkin campaign which this year is calling on Halloween lovers to ditch the knife and give decorating a go. By switching pumpkin carving to decorating, the charity hopes that even more pumpkins will be eaten this Halloween.

The Family friendly #EatYourPumpkin workshop and Halloween craft events will take place at Refurbs Repair & Reuse Centre 9 Brunswick Rd, Buckley CH7 2ED on Monday 30th Oct 10.30 am – 12 noon and 1.00 pm – 2. 30 pm and at Groundwork North Wales, Caffi Cyfle, Alyn Waters, Mold Road, Gwersyllt, LL11 4AG on Tuesday 31st Oct 11 am – 2 pm. Booking for these events are essential via info@groundworknorthwales.org.uk

Katy Turner from Café & Conference Manager said “By showing alternative ways to decorate and cook with pumpkins we really hope to inspire the local communities to eat their pumpkins this year and help make this delicious food go further.  You can get an average of six meals out of a pumpkin and they make a great addition to a soup or curry and taste fantastic with a wide range of flavours including ginger, chilli and sage”

Mark Breen, Senior Creative Partner at Hubbub said: “For ten years we’ve been inspiring the public to eat their pumpkins at Halloween. This year we’re sharing fun ideas to decorate pumpkins instead of carving them, to help them keep for longer and give people more time to cook them. If everyone cooked and ate their Halloween pumpkins, they’d be saving a combined £26.7 million4 worth of edible food from going to waste!

For the second year, this year’s #EatYourPumpkin campaign is supported by donations from the Starbucks®  5p cup charge, which is applied when a customer chooses to use a single-use cup. Introduced voluntarily in 2018, Starbucks has donated all funds to Hubbub to create stronger, greener communities.

Hubbub’s Top tips for an environmentally friendly Halloween:   

  • If you’d rather not waste any of your pumpkin, then get creative with your decorating. Think of alternative ways to create a spooky grimace without carving, meaning you can still eat the pumpkin when Halloween celebrations are over! Head to Hubbub’s social media channels for some step-by-step ideas for decorating your pumpkins!
  • Did you know you can eat almost every part of the pumpkin? In fact, it’s only the stalk that isn’t edible. Head to Hubbub’s Eat Your Pumpkin page for tips on how to use the skin, seeds, guts and flesh of your pumpkins.    
  • One pumpkin can make several meals, why not freeze the bits you don’t want to use straight away and save for a rainy day?    
  • If you don’t like the taste of pumpkin, then why not make your own spooky decorations? From craft sets to window pens to making your own Halloween poster, there are plenty of ways you can decorate for Halloween without using a pumpkin.   

  

Visit www.hubbub.org.uk/eat-your-pumpkin to find out more. #EatYourPumpkin