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As cities struggle to stem the spread of coronavirus, businesses of all kinds have been interrupted, including food waste and organics collection and drop-offs in many cities. According to WasteDive, multiple private haulers have less to pick up and many city programs have been suspended.

GrowNYC, the operator of New York City’s food scrap drop off program has suspended all food waste drop off points in light of the coronavirus. To protect the safety of employees and residents, many cities are suspending programs.

Lynne Serpe of Compost NOW in New Orleans, told WasteDive that her collection rates are way down in the city. Volumes have decreased from 4,000 to 1,200 pounds of pickup on a regular basis. Private companies like Serpe’s are subject to city guidelines to protect public health.

Bootstrap Compost in Massachusetts closed on March 16, giving customers the option to continue payments or suspend services. Founder Andy Brooks told WasteDive, “I hope we can resume shortly after this thing peaks.”

Both Serpe and Brooks spoke about keeping six-foot distance for drop-offs, maintaining drop-offs as part of other trips to limit exposure and making plans to continue scrap collection with new public health measures in place. The city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, is only allowing yard and food waste scraps in carts to be collected. Because carts can be picked up with a mechanical arm, limiting exposure for sanitation workers.

Separating food scraps keeps them out of landfills, where they can emit methane. Learn about compost in One Green Planet, including getting started with composting, 7 things you can do with compost if you don’t garden, how to compost without a compost bin, and home composting 101.

Read more about protecting yourself from coronavirus. Check the CDC website for more information on how to protect yourself and check our latest article to learn how COVID-19 differs from the flu.

Scientists believe that the spread of COVID-19, or coronavirus, started at an exotic animal market in Wuhan, China. You can help stop the incidence of viruses like these by signing this petition to ban the wildlife trade.

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This is a good time to reconsider our intake of animal products to stay healthy. Eating more plant-based foods is known to help with chronic inflammation, heart health, mental wellbeing, fitness goals, nutritional needs, allergies, gut health and more! Dairy consumption also has been linked to many health problems, including acne, hormonal imbalance, cancer, prostate cancer and has many side effects.

Interested in joining the dairy-free and meatless train? We highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App — with over 15,000 delicious recipes it is the largest plant-based recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy! And, while you are at it, we encourage you to also learn about the environmental and health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Catch up on our latest coronavirus coverage in One Green Planet, check out these articles:

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