Trick or treat this Halloween with RSPB

The reserve is opening up its doors and inviting the public in for spooky storytelling, arts and crafts and toasted marshmallows. Children can pick out their perfect pumpkin and take it home for carving.

RSPB NI staff at Belfast WoW will be providing tips on how to make the spooky season sustainable. While decorating pumpkins for Halloween may seem like a treat, the waste from carving them could be a trick.

It’s easy to forget that pumpkins can be used for more than just creating decorations, which is why whether it’s during the carving process or right before you transform your pumpkin, scrape out the pumpkin seeds for a wholesome snack, make pumpkin soup from the flesh or replant the seeds to grow your own pumpkin for next Halloween.

The internet is filled with recipes for soups, pies, cakes and even risottos that can be made from the flesh of a pumpkin. There are many ways to have a more sustainable, nature friendly Halloween by ensuring that you minimise waste where you can.

Once Halloween is over, there are lots of great ways to use pumpkins to benefit wildlife. You can share pumpkin seeds with birds, pop them out on the bird feeder or sprinkle on the ground for birds to enjoy, or why not turn it into a bird feeder, cut off the top half of the pumpkin and fill the bottom half with birdseed and place it in your garden for our feathered friends to enjoy. No matter the condition of your Halloween pumpkins, there’s a better alternative for them than the landfill, so make sure to put any waste into your compost bin or into the food bin for the council to collect.

So, join me and bring the family along to Belfast’s Window on Wildlife and learn how you can have a sustainable, nature-friendly Halloween.

Pre-booking is essential for this event, and tickets can be found online: https://bit.ly/3TfAyFA