Over 18000 tonnes of pumpkins are left to rot in landfills every year. This is enough to make a shocking 3.4 billion pumpkin spice lattes; enough to give one to every person in China, India, Egypt and the entire European Union. 

 

Fortunately, mindful citizens have been trying to make a change for 2022. Some, such as Andrew Thomson, have been "roasting pumpkin seeds and making pumpkin pie", in order to reduce waste and put their jack o’ lanterns to good use. 

 

Additionally, creativity was sparked in a home in Richmond. “We went to the store and found no pumpkins, so we bought melons instead,” Terence Robert explained. “Halloween is all about creativity and dress up, so we dressed up a canary melon, a watermelon and a pineapple instead. We had a bit of fun, ate the fruit – and we have a new family tradition!” This resourceful approach has been adapted across the UK, by those concerned for the wellbeing of their pumpkins or those who left their shopping to the last minute. 

 

Nevertheless, this number is currently too small a proportion of the British population. Many are imploring citizens to imagine their pumpkins sentenced to the dump, and to realise that it can take up to twenty years for that pumpkin to break down. This means that the pumpkins from the first Halloween of every teenager alive still have not decomposed. This long process emits methane, contributing to climate change. 

 

Members of the population aware of this pumpkin crisis, including Terence Robert, are hoping for others to follow in their footsteps to save these quintessential orange fruits this Halloween, although these efforts might not be enough to bring a better fate to the majority of British pumpkins.