After a fang-tastic Halloween, Southend-on-Sea Council Borough Council are urging all residents to dispose of their pumpkins responsibly and not leave them in our parks and open spaces.
The wildlife living in our parks and open spaces have plenty of natural food and discarded pumpkins will most likely not be eaten and can cause upset and illness to some wildlife, including hedgehogs.
Make the best use of your old Jack O’Lanterns and dispose of them in one of the following ways:
- do use the existing food collection service
- do use the garden waste service if you have this
- do put your pumpkin on your home composting heap
- you can also put a string through your pumpkin (if it is in a good condition), hang it up and put birdseed in it. If not, you can cut it up and place it skin side up on the soil, and bugs will make use of it
Cllr Carole Mulroney, cabinet member for environment, culture, tourism and planning, said: “Now Halloween is over we want to ensure you know how to dispose of your pumpkins properly, there are a few ways you can do this from hanging it in your garden and adding some bird seeds, to making use of your blue bins or home compost heap.
“It’s important that your pumpkin leftovers are not thrown in our parks and open spaces, as this could cause illness to local wildlife and attract unwanted wildlife into those areas. Also, any that aren’t eaten will then have to be cleaned up by our wonderful park’s team, who work non-stop to keep those areas inviting for everyone.
“So please, don’t turn our beautiful parks and open spaces into spoiled pumpkin patches and make sure you dispose of them correctly.”