Halloween Pumpkin Project

Hi folks... I am hoping to get something set up around Halloween; making people more aware of the opportunities to:

a) use their pumpkin contents for something tasty, and

b) composting the "shell" after Halloween, which I imagine accounts for significant "tonnage" of waste in early November.

Essentially we'd use Halloween to get more people interested in composting (although aware it's not the ideal time of year to start a heap or bin off, but presume it's OK). Next year we could tie in a wider campaign (with Food Up Front? Transition Towns' food groups?) about encouraging people to grow their own!

I'm aware this is already getting late in the day to start planning... We could work on this at our local levels, or indeed at the wider borough level if between us we can figure out HOW!

It might be:
- simply a case of working out some leaflets to distribute door to door, and/or
- teaming up with the council's compost bin providers to get the word out... or
- even better - teaming up with shops selling pumpkins locally!? Or
- we could team up with people who have made a Green Pledge through Wandsworth Council's scheme?

This is really to get the discussion going... please give me your thoughts in response! If there's enough interest, I'll sort out a meeting for us to work something up, and get our composting voices heard!

Tags: project, pumpkin

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sue on October 6, 2008 at 2:20pm: Have sent an e-mail to Cllr Sally Prentice suggesting we do an article in lambeth Life on 'how to get more out of your pumpkin" eg recipes for pumpkin pie/soup and how to store seeds, and then how to compost.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Alice on October 11, 2008 at 5:00pm: Dear Nick and Sue

I think it would be better to encourage people to eat their pumpkins and then compost them.

My pumpkin routine for a number of years has been:

- use a large pumpkin to make Carbonado Criolla (Jane Grigson's Vegetable book). The kids love this because it is a sweet beef stew (sweet potatoes, sweetcorn, peaches) served in the baked pumpkin.

- freeze the baked pumpkin container (cut up into large chunks) to use in pumpkin soup (which I like to do for Christmas and/or New Year). It is far too large for people to finish.

- save the seeds. I have variously roasted and served with salt or this year saved and sowed. This year I have harvested two smallish pumpkins. The size means that plan A is now out the window so I am thinking about Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's recipe for gruyere and cream soup served in small pumpkins.

What is my point? By the time I have finished, there is only a little bit of skin left to compost.

The problem comes when you carve your pumpkin because it can't be used as a container for a stew or soup. But it could be used for a fantastic risotto with sage and parmesan or soup or roasted with cumin and garlic. That still leaves only the skins to compost.

Why not ask the manager at Sainsbury's where they sell pumpkins for lanterns very cheaply about putting out a pumpkin recipe with the pumpkins? They also sell caddies for vegetable peelings and maybe they could be moved closer to the pumpkins to create a link. What do you think?

Regards

Alice; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Diane on October 17, 2008 at 12:59pm: Sorry Alice I hadn't read your response when I posted my earlier one. This is a great idea - supermarkets could put leaflets next to their pumpkins containing a recipe or 2, and the leaflet could include a request to compost the remains of their pumpkins. Supermarkets could also be asked to have a 'used pumpkin remains drop off point' at their stores after 31st so they (the supermarkets) can arrange for them to be composted centrally - even if it just means someone from the supermarket taking them to the council green waste bin at eg Smugglers' Way.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Nick on October 17, 2008 at 10:05pm: Maybe we need a prize as well, to encourage people to do it? Perhaps we should get people to experiment with their own recipes and upload them... the most exciting / delicious would win a prize?

Agree it's getting a bit late, but I met with the duty managers at M&S, and As Nature Intended today, and have an in-principle agreement to add leaflets in store. Tomorrow I'm going to try and meet with the manager of Sainsbury's and Waitrose (both of whom were in meetings earlier!).; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Nick on October 19, 2008 at 8:14pm

Hi all

I've finished the leaflet - although quite happy to take comments PLEASE before I print them all out. It will be a double-sided A5 leaflet. There's a copy attached to this message, or indeed on the "box" on the front page of the Balham Composters project.

I've arranged coverage of the pumpkin project in the Wandsworth Guardian - main news section. Next I have to write a "press-release"!

Attachments:

Halloween_v2.ppt, 365 KB

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Agnes on October 19, 2008 at 11:13pm: Hi - this looks great, Nick!
Do you want a hand distributing it to the stores?
Are you going to post the press-release online?
Agnes; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Nick on October 19, 2008 at 11:22pm

You read my mind!
Here you go. Please make any comments quickly!

Attachments:

Press release_Balham composters Oct 2008.doc, 28 KB

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Diane on October 20, 2008 at 7:27am: This is wonderful, Nick. The leaflet is eye catching and informative and will make a lot of people think twice about chucking their used pumpkin in the bin. Now that the leaflet has been prepared - great job, thanks - , more supermarkets and other locations can be targeted in the future. One small comment about the press release: I think "wastage is avoided" might be better than "people can be much less wasteful" ./; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Sue on October 20, 2008 at 3:00pm: Looks absolutely fab Nick. Please let me have some leaflets to give to our local veg shop.
All the best
sue; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Nick on October 31, 2008 at 11:52am

Here's an update on the Halloween Pumpkin Project! I've attached a final version of the leaflet and of the press release, which was tweaked hugely - and really well - by Sophie of Transition Town Brixton.

(Hyde Farm CAN did a leaflet too based on this one, for a grocer in their local area, and hopefully they'll also upload it - and some details about how it went down - here too!)

We managed to secure a small amount of funding from Wandsworth Borough Council to pay for the printing of 500 leaflets. They were distributed over the course of about 10 days in the run-up to Halloween next to the pumpkins and/or at the Help Desks and/or tills in: As Nature Intended, M&S, Sainsburys, Waitrose. All in Balham. Generally they were well received by the stores, and the store managers needed little persuasion to take them! However, doing it again, I'd give ourselves much more time, and discuss with the stores about getting them printed up professionally (glossy A5 leaflet, to entice more people to pick them up).

Today is Halloween! To date we have shifted about 400 of the leaflets through the stores:

As Nature Intended - the leaflet is spread throughout the store, in about 6 or 7 different locations! - including by all the tills and next to the pumpkins. Till operators were instructed to include one leaflet in the bag with every pumpkin bought (they also had a leaflet from the people who grow their pumpkins with some other recipes!). I left 50 to start with, and then delivered another 40 this week. They've now run out of pumpkins, but hopefully people are still taking the leaflets... (about 30 were left as of two days ago)

M&S - agreed to put them next to the final till, so customers could pick one up as they walked past after paying. They didn't sell many pumpkins, so this seemed to be the best option. We left 50 initially, then a further 30 after the first lot ran out... I'm not convinced they weren't simply removed by someone in the store, but I was asked to replenish the stock, so I'm being optimistic that they were all taken.

Sainsbury's - it took me a while to get hold of the manager, but I finally did. He agreed to take 100 in store, which were left both on the side of the pumpkin 'box' as you walked into store, and at the Help Desk. At first the ones on the pumpkin 'box' were left in a rather tatty clear plastic wallet... I asked for this to be replaced for something more visible and enticing, which they agreed to. The leaflets moved around a bit in-store, as did the pumpkins. I dropped a further 30 off a couple of days ago, including about 10 in and amongst the pumpkins themselves. Sainsbury's also sold out of pumpkins by 30th October, but I noted the leaflets were still next to the Help Desk - next to the Halloween Activity leaflets made by Mars (which I found out last night were commissioned by a good friend who works at Mars!!)

Waitrose - I left 100 with them, and was initially disappointed to see they hadn't moved further than the Help Desk when I went back after a few days. After further discussion, they were moved next to the main exit door, and next to the pumpkins, but when I next visited, they were all back on the Help Desk. I didn't replenish the stock, but they were down by about half by the time I visited. I tried to encourage the store to put them back next to the pumpkins.

I'm about to do a final run down to the Balham supermarkets to distribute the rest of the leaflets... next year I might try to get the tube station to agree to take them... maybe they'll go down well there too?

Attachments:

Halloween_v3.ppt, 368 KB
Press release_Balham composters Oct 2008_v3.doc, 31 KB

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Diane on October 31, 2008 at 12:09pm: This is great, Nick - you've worked really hard in a short time on this project and you've probably saved loads of pumpkins from landfill. I'm glad Wandsworth Council contributed something towards the cost. Perhaps they could include a leaflet with the orange recycling bag drop nearest to 31 October next year. Apart from that, I think it would be better to stick to supermarkets and other food retailers to distribute the leaflets next year try to include other local town centres like Clapham Junction, Tooting, Wandsworth Town and Putney.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Nick on October 31, 2008 at 2:21pm: Thanks Diane - I agree - it would be great to expand this scheme.

I'll need some little helpers though! (everyone... please let me know here or via my profile if you're interested in helping with this project next year - e.g. through leaflet distribution - and where you live)

I also really like the idea of leafleting in with the orange recycling sacks... I'll chat to the Waste team about that nearer the time...

Finally, what next? Is there something we can/should do around encouraging people to take up Christmas tree recycling schemes? (do most people already? I assume most take up the council's collection scheme?). It's probably better to plant your own anyway... but more generally, how else can we get to people's consciousness about the benefits of composting? Thoughts welcome...; ▶ Reply to This