Last Thursday, the Executive Yuan gave a green light to expanding the ban on free plastic bags, as of next year. To further reduce the use of plastic bags, starting Jan. 1, the ban will prevent another 80,000 more stores from offering free plastic shopping bags to customers. This increases the categories of stores involved from seven to 14, the new categories being pharmacies, medical appliances stores, 3C retailers, book/stationery stores, laundries, beverage stores, and bakeries. The aim is to further reduce plastic bag use by 1.5 billion per year.
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) implemented the policy of reducing plastic bag use in 2002 and, since then, certain establishments such as government agencies, private schools, department stores, shopping malls, hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores and fast-food restaurant chains have been prohibited from providing customers with free plastic shopping bags.
Also, with effect from Jan. 1, the EPA will ban the manufacture and importation of personal hygiene products containing microbeads, such as cleansing lotions and shower gels, to reduce the amount of harm to the oceans caused by these plastic particles. Their sale will be prohibited in Taiwan from July 1 that year.
Photo: Lu Chun-wei, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者鹿俊為
(Liberty Times, translated by Lin Lee-kai)
行政院上週四拍板,擴大管制購物用塑膠袋之使用,明年元旦起擴大管制範圍,管制對象由現行七大類增加為十四類,新增七大類、八萬家商店,包括藥粧/美粧/藥局、醫療器材行、3C零售、書籍/文具零售、洗衣店、飲料店、西點麵包店。目標是每年再減少十五億個購物用塑膠袋。
環保署九十一年起推動購物用塑膠袋減量工作,已規定公部門、私立學校、百貨公司、量販店、超級市場、便利商店 、連鎖速食店不得免費提供購物用塑膠袋。
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者張嘉明
環保署也將管制洗面乳、沐浴乳等個人清潔用品中添加塑膠微粒,以減少塑膠微粒對於海洋的危害,明年一月一日起不得製造、輸入,七月一日起不得販賣。
(自由時報記者李欣芳、劉力仁)
A: Wow, three Taiwanese restaurants just won the 2024 “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants” awards. B: Awesome! Which three restaurants? A: Taipei’s Logy at No. 22 and MUME at No. 34, and Taichung’s JL Studio at No. 33. B: Actually, there are many more great establishments in Taipei. How about other Asian cities? A: Singapore claimed nine spots this year, making it Asia’s new “food capital.” A: 2024「亞洲50最佳餐廳」名單揭曉了,台灣有3家餐廳上榜。 B: 好厲害,哪3家? A: 台北的Logy和MUME分獲第22和34名,台中的JL Studio獲第33名! B: 其實台北還有很多好餐廳,那其他的亞洲城市呢? A: 新加坡今年入選9家,可說是亞洲美食之都。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Let’s explore another delicacy primarily known to Tainan locals: floating milkfish in thick soup. Despite its peculiar name, this dish is another Tainan specialty that showcases the popularity of milkfish, which is made into fish paste and served in thick soup. Unlike the version with tutuo fish, which also adds other ingredients to its thick soup, the floating milkfish version primarily features the “floating fish” itself in its thick soup, ensuring that the fish paste remains the star of the dish. 讓我們來探索另一道台南人熟悉的美食:浮水魚羹。這道菜名奇特的美食,再再展現了台南虱目魚料理的多樣。浮水魚羹是用虱目魚漿做成的羹品,雖然和𩵚魠魚羹一樣是羹湯,但不像𩵚魠魚羹會在湯中加入其他食材,而是讓虱目魚漿成為這道料理的主角。 peculiar (adj.) 獨特的;古怪的 The belly of a milkfish is considered the most
The practice of freezing embryos as part of in vitro fertilization (IVF) was thrown into chaos in Alabama this year, when the state supreme court ruled that such embryos should be considered children, exposing clinics to wrongful death claims in the event they are destroyed in the thawing process. In 2021, more than 80 percent of US IVF procedures involved the transfer of frozen embryos, according to a recent report by the US Department of Health and Human Services. HOW IS EMBRYO FREEZING USED IN IVF? IVF uses high doses of hormones to stimulate ovaries to produce as many eggs as possible. Once
A situation puzzle is a game in which one person describes a scenario and asks the players to explain it. The situation is deliberately lacking in details, but the players may acquire more information by asking questions — however, these can only be answered with “yes” or “no.” A player wins by describing the approximate events that led up to the situation. To do so, they must use a blend of logical and lateral thinking. A famous example of this is sometimes known as “Turtle Soup.” Here’s the riddle: “A man in a restaurant orders turtle soup, tastes it