Fridge of Free Stuff events helps save pumpkins from the bin this Halloween

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

The event at Hub Zero is one 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 #EatYourPumpkin event will take place across 3 days next week on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (26-27th October) and all the family are welcome.

By holding pumpkin decorating workshops and providing pumpkin recipe bags, we really hope to inspire local residents to celebrate all things orange squash and try a no-carve Halloween this year. We hope that more pumpkins will be eaten this year to 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. Also, there are so many zero-waste ways of creating decorations for the Halloween celebrations, including great ideas like paper mache pumpkins made from non-recyclable plastic and newspaper and ghoulish paper ghosts.

On 24th October, Hubbub and award-winning children’s book writer and illustrator Rob Biddulph, will be releasing a special DrawWithRob video – his first ever not using paper. Instead, he will show three brand new designs for drawing straight onto a pumpkin with edible ink.

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! 5 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.