I’ve always just left it attached to the main part. My family’s always sliced the pineapple into disks then cut those into 4ths. You end up with a small part of core per piece.
If you want to get more out of pineapples did you can use the rinds? It’s a fermented drink called tepache. It’s the rinds of a pineapple, water, and a type of brown sugar called piloncillo. I’ve never heard of using the core in it but I dont see why you couldn’t add it in. I say add because the rind is where the fermenting bacteria comes from.
That’s where you split difference. Get a functional bag with all the pockets and then accessories with the fun stuff. Put some wacky patches, pins, or stickers on there. Attach some keychains on the zipper pulls. Extra points if they’re the mini stuffed animal kind.* You could even decorate the handle and straps. A little or a lot it’s all up to you :) Bonus: it let’s you show off multiple interests.
*points in my book at least. Becuase I’m a sucker for plushies.