When I lived in Taiwan, I learned to store food scraps in the freezer like everyone else.
 |  | By Daphne Lee, News Editor | | When I lived in Taiwan, I learned to store food scraps in the freezer like everyone else. A truck would come by twice a week to collect trash, recyclables, and food waste. Composting wasn't mandatory, but people would seriously judge you if you didn't.
It took Taiwan two decades to transform from the infamous "Garbage Island" to having one of highest recycling rates in the world. Environmentalism has become a habit for most Taiwanese, and that's something I wish to see in the United States. | | | Today's Top Story | | Make Composting Into a Habit |  | As of 2022, California requires its residents to compost food waste as part of the state's strategy to reduce greenhouse emissions. It's the second state to prohibit residents from tossing food scraps into the trash, after Vermont.
In California, organic waste in landfills emits 20% of the state's methane, a pollutant 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Composting is one way to help reduce emissions and put nutrients back into the soil that grows our food.
The process is much simpler than it looks. You can start a compost bin or the freezer method I mentioned above and drop off the waste at a community site on the weekends. Try searching for compositing sites near you online. For example, if you live in New York City, you can find one on GrowNYC.
However, living in a city or town without composting infrastructure is a bit more tricky. If you have an outdoor space, you can learn to compost at home here. | | Know More | | Pro tip: If you're using any bags to store food scrap, make sure the bags are compostable, not biodegradable. Make sure to check the list of acceptable materials at your local facility. Fruit/vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, and eggshells are the most commonly accepted ones. | | Feel Better | | When Seattle mandated municipal composting in 2015, some residents were worried that the food scrap piles would attract rodents. It didn't really happen and the program is still going strong. Meat, fish, and dairy—things that would attract rats—aren't composted. | | |  | | In 2018, paper products made up the largest percentage of waste in the United States, according to the EPA. The good news is paper waste has been on the decline for the last two decades because of digitization, but food waste is on the rise. |  |  | | Staying Safe During a Blizzard This Weekend | | A bomb cyclone—a winter storm with the intensity of a hurricane—is set to hit the Northeast this weekend. If we've learned anything from the recent climate crises, we have to prepare for potential power outages and freezing temperatures. Make sure your electronics are fully charged. Don't hoard food right now as grocery stores are struggling to keep up with supply shortages, but have some nutrition bars, dry cereal, instant oatmeal, and bottled water ready if possible. | | | | Epstein-Barr Virus Likely Causes Multiple Sclerosis | | Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been popping up in health publications recently. Around 95% of adults around the world carry the virus. A new study found that the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease, is 32 times higher in people who had been infected with EBV. Of the 801 study participants, all but one were infected with EBV before the onset of MS. But scientists still need to study whether other factors are also triggering the disease. | | | | | | | |  | | In an interview with Verywell, Joseph Basile, MD, MBA, FACEP, said to pay close attention to your body if you have to be outside when it's below freezing. |  | | Please dress appropriately and ensure that body parts most often affected by frostbite are covered in warm, dry clothing. The body parts most often affected by frostbite are the nose, ears, toes, cheeks, chin, and fingers. | |  |  | Joseph Basile, MD, MBA, FACEP
Interim Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Staten Island University Hospital
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