Little Alligator is waking up from a peaceful slumber and goes through his morning routine of brushing his teeth, combing his hair, showering and stretching his body before he is off to get his big breakfast to start off his day. As he begins his journey, he encounters a trashed environment with all kinds of plastic pollution! The little alligator almost chokes on a plastic drinking bottle, a single-use plastic bag lands on his head as he is swimming deep in the water, a large worn-out car tire gets stuck on his waist! He escapes the water and sees a yellow bird with its beak held tightly closed by a plastic juice bottle cap, a duck with soda can rings squeezed around its neck, and a turtle with a plastic grocery bag stuck in his mouth! He helps these animals to get free and in return they become a group that shares an experience that bonds them forever as friends. Together they make sure the environment is clean and that no other animals will ever suffer from plastic pollution again!

Dara Herman Zierlein is an artist, author, art educator and environmentalist. She has taught art at Public Schools in NYC, Massachusetts for over twenty years, and as an exhibiting artist. She is currently illustrating for The Rumpus. Dara is a political artist and continuously using her art to advocate awareness in the world. Her paintings are of current issues focusing on social justice, human and animal rights, women and equal rights, and plastic pollution. Dara's large watercolor paintings, writings and collaborations have been published internationally, Mom Egg Review, Resist Vol 2, Grab Back, NYC, 1Million Women, Australia, The Earth Issue, London, and Demeter Press, Canada. Dara has been interviewed on several themes focusing on motherhood, climate change, and recently on a podcast advocating for a plastic-free environment with the Valley Advocate newspaper.