

Only by combining our collective voices can we, the people, truly have a say in the creation of environmental policies that encourage the sustainable development of a green economy. Be careful which way you lean.”īut the Once-ler is a great example of how someone with good intentions can make very bad decisions when there’s money to be made. The Once-ler: Uh, down? The Lorax: A tree falls the way it leans. DON’T EXPECT PEOPLE IN POWER TO MAKE ECO-CONSCIOUS DECISIONSįor far too long, people have trusted governments and corporations to do the right thing. READ MORE: 50 Interesting Facts About Elephants 4. These animals cannot stand up for themselves. Yet Elephants are being killed for their tusks, Rhinos are being killed for their horns, Seals are being killed for their skins, and Sharks are being killed for their fins. There is no place in the world where it is considered OK to cut off a person’s nose, or skin, or limbs. “ I am the Lorax,” says the creature Seuss describes as sharpish and bossy, “ I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.” WE MUST SPEAK FOR THE TREES (AND ALL OTHER LIVING THIN GS) READ MORE: The Problem with Animal Selfiesģ. Once begun, the exploitation of nature is difficult to stop, so it’s best not to start. “There’s no cause for alarm,” he reasons with the Lorax, “I chopped just one tree.”īut as demand for his product increases, he harvests more and more and more, until they are all gone. Recognizing the beauty of the Truffula Trees, the Once-ler chops one down and uses it to knit his first Thneed (which looks a bit like furry pajamas). TAKE ONLY PICTURES, LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINTS READ MORE: List of National Parks By State (An Epic Guide to “America’s Best Idea”) 2. It’s clear that he regrets the devastating impact his actions had on the area, whose once-pristine flora and fauna could be analogous for any number of bio-diverse regions of the world currently threatened by development.

The Once-ler, who lives a hermitic existence on the gloomy outskirts of town, fondly reminisces about “the days when the grass was still green and the pond was still wet and the clouds were still clean.” UNSPOILED WILDERNESS IS A THING TO TREASURE READ MORE: 20 Biggest Forests in the World (For Your World Travel Bucket List)ġ0 Eco Lessons in Quotes from The Lorax 1. Here is our interpretation of quotes from the Lorax, including 10 no-nonsense lessons about what we can do to help “speak for the trees.” The meaning of The Lorax couldn’t be more clear: It’s a warning about the dangers of rampant environmental exploitation. Their mass production leads to the extinction of Truffula Trees, leaving the area a barren wasteland completely devoid of life. What begins as a charming tale quickly turns dark, however, as the Once-ler harvests Truffula Trees to create a product called Thneeds. Here’s a quick summary of the Lorax: The Once-ler, sees economic opportunity upon his first visit to an Eden-like environmental haven. Seuss assumed the voice of an outspoken environmental advocate. Seuss, wrote about the importance of environmental awareness back in 1971 in his prescient book, The Lorax.Īnd the meaning of The Lorax has only grown more relevant over the past four decades. This conflict is nothing new: Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. On the other side are the indigenous people and wildlife that call these areas home, who need those same resources for their very survival. On one side of this war are those people and corporations who would exploit Mother Nature’s natural resources for their own profit.

This battle is raging all around the world, from the biodiverse Amazon River basin to South Africa’s Kruger National Park, from the polar ice caps in the Arctic to the lush rainforests of Indonesia. And I’m not referring to the armed conflicts currently raging throughout parts of the Middle East and Africa. To understand the quotes from The Lorax story, you first need to understand that there is a war going on that started a long time ago.
