The Lorax: Children’s Entertainment with an Earth Day Lesson

April 22, 2020 Joshua Books, Movies

“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues.” ― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

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The Lorax has long been my very favourite Dr. Seuss book. I don’t remember why or how that happened, but it is, and Earth Day is a wonderful time to celebrate it.

It has all of the wonder of Dr. Seuss’s imagination with quirky characters and made up everything – but it’s still grounded in our reality and easy to see the moral/lesson/importance of the story.

If you haven’t read the book (or seen the movie) the main characters are The Lorax, the Once-ler, and the young boy who is being told the story. We learn about the Once-ler’s wanton destruction of the environment to produce Thneeds. The Truffula trees are axed with malice and without any concern for preservation or the greater environmental impact – and the worst-case scenario follows.

As we look around our world and see the effects of climate change from deforestation, fossil fuel consumption and extraction, and a disregard for the wellbeing of our planet, it’s easy to see the comparisons to the Once-ler’s greedy actions.

As a parent, it’s going to be important to me to try and teach Ollie to respect and take care of the environment. We’ll keep trying to recycle and reuse everything we can. We’ll keep trying to reduce waste with our reusable bags, water bottles, glass containers, and more. We’ll try to rely less on fossil fuels and walk more, take mass transit, etc. when we have those options. And as the world continues (I hope) to move forward with more renewable energy and green options, we’ll work to embrace those too.

We don’t want to be the Once-ler, but we also don’t want to be ignorant or blind to the impact that consumption has while someone else is playing his part in the play.

I don’t have all the answers, and I know we still use too much plastic and create too much garbage – and raising a child is not environmentally friendly – but we can all try. And we can all get better. And that’s what I’m hoping for from myself.

Find The Lorax and give it a read (check the app of your library if you’re a member) and if you’ve got some time and want a longer version – check out the 2012 animated film starring Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Betty White and more.