With October only a few days away, EEE remains a threat in the Bay State.

That’s the message from health officials after another horse in Massachusetts tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis.

Four people in the state have been infected with the rare but serious and potentially fatal disease during this busy year of mosquito-borne illnesses. A man in New Hampshire died from EEE.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Thursday announced a third confirmed case of EEE in a horse this year. The horse was exposed to EEE in Carver, an area in Plymouth County that’s already at high risk for EEE.

“This latest animal case of EEE confirms that even this late in the season, the risk for spread of EEE virus from infected mosquitoes is still present,” said Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein.

“With more people going outside to enjoy the mild fall weather, we continue to recommend that residents take steps to protect themselves from mosquito bites until the first hard frost,” Goldstein added.

There have been 96 EEE-positive mosquito samples in Massachusetts this year.

Infected mosquitoes have been found in Barnstable, Bristol, Essex, Norfolk, Middlesex, Plymouth, and Worcester counties.

EEE is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito. The last outbreak of EEE in Massachusetts occurred in 2019-2020, and resulted in 17 human cases with seven deaths, and nine animal cases.

There were no human or animal cases of EEE in Massachusetts in 2021, 2022, or 2023.

“Cooler temperatures will start to reduce mosquito activity, but people shouldn’t let their guard down yet,” said State Epidemiologist Catherine Brown. “We continue to strongly advise that everyone in areas at high and critical risk for EEE reschedule evening outdoor activities to avoid peak mosquito biting hours.”

DPH continues to urge people to use bug spray, and to wear long sleeves, long pants and socks when outdoors.

Composting is a process that takes biodegradable materials such as discarded food scraps and garden waste and recycles them back into usable soil. Compost is capable of “reducing greenhouse gas emissions at landfills” and “promoting uptake of carbon dioxide by vegetation,” according to the US Composting Council.

Massachusetts has been a pioneer in sustainable waste management for decades. The state secured the first EPA recycling grants in 1976, which allowed the state to implement limited curbside collection programs and use the first residential recycling truck. But today, still only a handful of Massachusetts municipalities offer curbside composting. Sustainable waste management demands more than just recycling, so Massachusetts must broaden its composting efforts to continue its environmental leadership.

There is strong evidence that such policies would have a real impact. In the 1970s, when the recycling of paper products, glass, aluminum, and plastic was just becoming part of the mainstream environmental movement, the lack of practical and convenient ways to dispose of recyclable waste was the main obstacle to increasing recycling participation.

Consequently, when curbside recycling was offered, the result was dramatic: The percentage of total waste bound for landfills across the country decreased from 94 percent in 1960 to 52 percent in 2018. There is good reason to believe that the same would happen with food waste.

Yet despite the historical efficacy of curbside programs, only 5 out of the 351 cities and towns within Massachusetts currently employ city-run curbside programs for food waste. It is important that these programs are not only free and convenient but that they are implemented in all towns throughout the state.

As of right now in Massachusetts, only businesses face regulations on their disposal of food waste: They must compost instead of sending their waste to landfills if they generate more than 1 half-ton per week. While this is a commendable step, more food waste is generated by households (43 percent) than by grocery stores, restaurants, and food service companies combined (40 percent).

Why is participation in composting so limited? Cost continues to be a barrier. Alexis Schulman, a professor of environmental sciences at Drexel University, notes that free, citywide collection programs, along with a composting mandate “have absolutely seen the highest diversion” of the volume of food waste in American cities. For example, the first year of a mandatory residential composting program in Cambridge saw citywide trash cut by 8 percent. This eradicated an equivalent amount of emissions as driving 2.7 million miles.

Similarly, in July 2023, the town of Lexington launched a pilot program for curbside pickup of kitchen waste to 2,000 Lexington households at no charge. In July, the pilot program expanded to another 2,000 households. Since then, Lexington Public Schools Green Teams has reported that 2,000 of the town’s 11,000 households are composting — meaning just 200 are paying for curbside pickup. Clearly, having a free program increases participation by orders of magnitude.

For all these reasons, the state could be doing far more to move Massachusetts toward widespread composting. This could not be done overnight, as composting facilities would need to be expanded, local regulations would need to be written, and large apartment buildings might need to be adapted to accommodate waste.

But the Legislature could take several concrete steps to accelerate composting programs. It could start by offering financial incentives to municipalities to start free curbside pickup of food waste. It could write draft regulations for towns that include mandatory pilot programs. And it could expand educational programs to inform residents about the benefits of composting.

Composting has been proven to work across the world — San Francisco, Seattle, and Sweden are just a few examples of composting success. Massachusetts should be next to implement this vital service on a large scale. It will reduce the state’s carbon footprint. It will empower residents by giving them a way to personally contribute to mitigating climate change. And communities located near landfill sites will experience greater quality of life because of the decreased volume of waste entering the landfills.

The grass is always greener on the other side, but with today’s technology, we don’t have to wait or wish; we can make our own side green. What do we have to lose?

Sophie Shaw is a senior at Lexington High School.