When people think of Halloween, they think of pumpkins. They are the ultimate symbol of the holiday celebrated on the eve of All Saints' Day (Halloween is indeed derived from "All Hallows' Eve", the eve of All Saints' Day). Children love decorating them and turning them into lanterns to light up the night, and many pumpkins serve as decorations throughout the autumn. But once the holiday and the season are over, you often don't know what to do with them.
At Meanwhile Boutique, zero waste is one of the values that make up our charter. So we have listed 4 ways to give your autumn and Halloween pumpkins a second life.
1 - Cook up some tasty dishes
There are a thousand and one pumpkin recipes. However, before you decide how you're going to eat it, you need to pay attention to how you decorated it.
To eat it, it is best to keep it intact. If you only decorated the outside (non-toxic paint, cardboard, stickers...) and didn't cut it, you can save the flesh to cook. Soup, quiche, purée, gratin, chips... Pumpkin can be enjoyed in all forms. You just need to let your curiosity and your cravings guide you.
Discover 30 pumpkin recipes right here.
Everything in the pumpkin is edible, even the seeds! They make very good snacks for an aperitif with friends. Place the cleaned pumpkin seeds in a container. Pour a drizzle of oil over them and stir to coat them well. You can also add a few spices. Place them on a baking sheet in the oven. Once the seeds are well toasted, add salt or, if you have a sweet tooth, opt for a little cinnamon and brown sugar.
Finally, you can give in to this trend from the United States, the pumpkin spice latte, a latte flavored with pumpkin purée and a little cinnamon.
2 - A compostable planter
If you cut your pumpkin to make a fantastic creature, it can be difficult to preserve. A moldy pumpkin can be dangerous to eat, and if yours was outside, rain, pollution, animals... may have made it unfit for consumption. In this case, you should return what belongs to nature to nature, and you can create a beautiful planter! Just fill your pumpkin with potting soil about one-third of the way, then place your plant in the pumpkin and fill the rest with soil. The pumpkin will gradually decompose and nourish your plant. The pumpkin skin, on the other hand, is excellent for protecting your plants from the first autumn chills.
When you want to change your decoration, it is enough to cut your pumpkin into several pieces and mix it with other organic materials such as fallen leaves or cut grass. Once decomposed, your pumpkin will turn into a particularly rich and nutritious potting soil, very useful for strengthening your plants. Be careful about the presence of seeds in your compost, which could sprout.
3 - Homemade beauty products
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In addition to being a treat for our taste buds, pumpkin is an excellent natural beauty product! It is both a moisturizer, an anti-acne and anti-aging product because pumpkin is rich in beta-carotene, minerals, zinc and vitamins A, C and E. With pumpkin leftovers, you can create 100% homemade beauty products. Here is a very simple recipe for a pumpkin mask.
Remove the seeds and stringy parts of the pumpkin, then place pieces of pumpkin in a dish containing a little water. Bake for about 90 minutes. When the flesh is tender, blend it into a purée using a food processor. Mix five teaspoons of pumpkin purée, three teaspoons of brown sugar and a splash of milk. Once the mask has cooled, apply it to your face in circular motions, taking care to avoid your eyes. Leave on for 15 minutes.
And to continue, discover here 5 pumpkin treatments to make at home.
4 - Pretty decoration for your home
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If your pumpkin shows no signs of mold, you can use it as a pretty autumn vase or as a planter and place dried flowers or another floral arrangement in it. Another slightly better-known trick: you can turn your pumpkin into atealight holder by placing a small candle inside to light up your room. Find here a DIY tutorial for making a personalized autumn vase.
With these tips, you are adopting a zero-waste consumption model and taking action for the preservation of the planet while celebrating Halloween. And if you want to know more about this lifestyle, we have written a short article for you on zero waste.
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