A rat and plastic in Washington Square Park, of the many due to garbage and litter
I don’t have anything against rats, but they represent a loss of biodiversity and a failure of our society. They thrive on our waste. This island used to be covered with countless species of mammals, birds, and probably reptiles and amphibians, on top of plants and fungi.
Now we have mostly rats. No beavers, coyotes, bears, egrets, swans, butterflies, and what used to live here, plus fish, mollusks, dolphins, and everything in the water and air. Walk through Washington Square Park on any night now and you’ll see countless rats running around. Also mice, pigeons, and roaches. In the recent snow, you can see the holes they dig in the snow.
I took the pictures and video below before the big recent snowfall. This rat is trying to get inside one plastic container, but there is far more plastic than even rats and mice. The plastic is more toxic than the rat, though people pay for plastic containers, though they then dispose of them in ways that poison us all, not that you can create plastic without poisoning life.
Congratulations, America.
Come to think of it, I should remind people why I post this stuff. I’m not being negative. This post isn’t about rats, plastic, or America failing to live by its values. It’s about our potential. I can only post about the problems because I see a solution, which my new book is about. We can reach our potential. We can restore the abundance nature once had everywhere. We can live by our values again.
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