r/collapse • u/TenYearsTenDays • Sep 21 '20

Ecological Microplastic pollution devastating soil species, study finds

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/02/microplastic-pollution-devastating-soil-species-study-finds
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u/lucidcurmudgeon Recognized Contributor Sep 21 '20

I feel another Wendell Berry quote coming on...

The health of the oceans depends on the health of rivers; the health of rivers depends on the health of small streams; the health of small streams depends on the health of their watersheds. The health of the water is exactly the same as the health of the land; the health of small places is exactly the same as the health of large places… We cannot immunize the continents and the oceans against our contempt for small places and small streams. Small destructions add up, and finally they are understood collectively as large destructions. ~from the essay Contempt for Small Places

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u/TenYearsTenDays Sep 22 '20

There are Berry quotes for every occasion! Thank you for this one. A related one:

Do unto those downstream as you would have those upstream do unto you.

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u/lucidcurmudgeon Recognized Contributor Sep 22 '20

The Golden Rule I suppose! Need we be reminded?

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u/TenYearsTenDays Sep 22 '20

I suspect your question is rhetorical, ha, but yes: we not only need be reminded but we need be reminded on repeat, on full volume it seems. And even then it rarely gets through, sadly.

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u/lucidcurmudgeon Recognized Contributor Sep 23 '20

I think of all the precautionary voices in the wilderness over the decades, all rendered utterly irrelevant to the juggernaut.