Caerphilly county borough residents are being encouraged to ‘go green’ by recycling and reusing their waste this Halloween.
Every year, 1 million pumpkins are sold in the UK, 99% of which are used to carve into lanterns for Halloween.
When carving pumpkins to make lanterns this year, remember to place the contents of the pumpkin (seeds and flesh) in the green food waste caddy, ready for the weekly collection.
After Halloween, the shell of the pumpkin can also be cut into pieces and placed in the food waste caddy.
Alternatively, why not turn your pumpkin into compost? The seeds and flesh can be added directly to a compost bin, followed by the lantern shell (broken into pieces with the candle removed) after Halloween.
Cllr Lyn Ackerman, Cabinet Member for the Environment said, “Halloween is a time for fun and festivities, although it is still important that we remember to take our environmental responsibilities seriously.”
She continued, “By following just a few simple tips, we can help ensure that Caerphilly county borough continues to be the best performing council in Wales for recycling”.
Follow these top tips for a green Halloween: –
- Make your own spooky costume – If your children decide to get into the Halloween spirit by dressing up as a spooky character, instead of spending money on buying a new costume every year that will end up in the bin – why not try making your own?
- Waste-free treats – We all know that children love ‘trick or treating’ and most of us like to prepare for the little visitors. Try and chose treats that generate as little packaging as possible. Instead of buying individually wrapped sweets and goodies, why not opt for reusable treats such as pencils or crayons.
- Don’t be in the dark – recharge those batteries – If your children are going trick or treating this year, make sure you use rechargeable batteries in your torch – they will last much longer and reduce the amount of waste generated after your night of trick or treating.
- Be creative and have fun at Halloween – Don’t waste money buying lots of fancy Halloween decorations – why not make your own? Children will have great fun making their own scary decorations – you could make paper mache spiders and bats, a skeleton man out of old containers and masks out of old cardboard boxes. Reuse your decorations year after year and then recycle them when you’ve finished with them.
