Life Hack: How to repurpose those Halloween pumpkins — feed them to the dog

It is actually considered a doggy ‘superfood’ 

Pumpkin can help to support a dog's immune system, enrich their digestive system and support with weight management. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

Halloween is on the horizon and the shops are filled with pumpkins ready to be carved. However, if you typically carve a face in the pumpkin’s flesh and then dump the scooped-out innards, you are contributing to a seasonal spike in food waste.

In an Irish Examiner column last year, Dr Michelle McKeown described how pumpkin waste can negatively impact our environment: “When pumpkins rot in landfills, they decompose anaerobically (without oxygen), producing methane, a potent greenhouse gas that’s 25 times more effective at warming the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Methane emissions from landfills account for around 4% of Ireland’s total greenhouse gas output, and the seasonal surge from discarded pumpkins doesn’t help matters.”