I'll avoid stating the obvious, because I'm sure you're tired of hearing it.
What perhaps is not so obvious, is that you can eat your carving pumpkins. Even non carving pumpkins. Every year we, in the UK, throw away enough pumpkins that we could feed every US citizen with a slice of pumpkin pie [source Hubbub]. Not only is that completely and utterly outrageous, it is also completely and utterly avoidable.
With Halloween - or what was left of it, this year - just passed and I'm sure plenty of pumpkins lying about, quickly chop them up, refrigerate/freeze them until you know what you want to do with them to prolong the shelf life. Once you've established your action plan, you can get ready, set, bake -we-mean-upcycle.
But it's not all about pumpkins, at the moment [as much as we might like it to be]. To be honest it's about a lot of things, so we're going to do our best to continue to curate short lists of things to make, eat, discover, read, listen to, explore. Things we think you'll find interesting and find enjoyment in during these darker, shorter, pandemic-ridden days. It will always include resources, tools, actions to be less wasteful and more sustainable. And maybe sometimes, we'll thrown in a cheeky off-topic, personal guilty pleasure.
Making: pumpkin everything. For some pumpkin-inception see our latest recipe blog post Harissa-Pumpkin Seeds Roasted Pumpkin. Blitz any leftovers to make a soup, or pop into your mac and cheese. I recently tasted a Pumpkin Crème Brûlée which blew my mind [by London based dessert masters Happy Endings]. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins make their annual appearance around this time of year and they are an absolute must. Pancakes are a great idea too, as is adding to your curries; the possibilities are endless. Guaranteed if you pop 'pumpkin recipes' in your favourite search engine you'll be inundated with ideas, but we thought Hubbub's 5 Things To Do With Your Pumpkin would be a helpful place to start.
Watching: David Attenborough, A Life on Our Planet. It will make you cry but it will give you hope, and it will fire you up to act. And that's all we'll say. We'll let Sir David do the rest.
Listening: How to Save a Planet by 'scientist and policy nerd' Dr Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and journalist Alex Blumberg. The clue's in the title; they are on the hunt for actionable tools and solutions. The planet saving kind. Ultimately, it's a light-hearted, but very serious and fact-friendly podcast, interviewing and researching an incredibly diverse pool of resources from across the globe, deep-diving into all the complex topics from Intersectional Environmentalism, the Politics of Climate Change, the histories and evolutions of, and everything in between. One for your next daily walk.
Reading: We were featured in FORBES. The Smart Way Circular Economy Companies Are Reducing Waste In The Food Industry. TLDR The circular model of business is the idea that materials and resources be kept 'in the loop', infinitely; evolving, being broken down, mixed in with and upcycled over time. The food industry faces many challenges, and we are realising the possibilities that a circular approach can bring in remedying the waste problems in today's food industry. Yet we are slow to adapt and there remain some challenges around implementation, some of which I discuss here. Examples of brilliantly innovative, food waste fighting companies we are mentioned alongside of include Olio, Winnow, Oddbox, Karma. Follow Kate Jackson, author of the article for more pieces on circular economy businesses and the journey to b-corp.
Exploring: Pebble Magazine's FutureFest, a sustainable online festival. You'll hear from the likes of 'eco chef' Tom Hunt, environmental activist Lily Cole, and discover an online market place filled with 45+ virtual 'stalls', including our friends Calm Cocoa.