Essay: Environmental Awareness in the Lorax

Part One: Social Justice Issue Analysis
Deforestation is speeding up the process of global warming, and if it is not prevented 80% of wildlife will be at risk of dying out. Globally, there are 3.04 trillion trees and each year 15 billion are harvested. Only 5 billion trees are replanted each year, which means at that rate the world could be treeless in the next 300 years. Deforestation institutes numerous issues for the environment including global warming, loss of habitat for plants and animals, increased levels of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, and dramatic climate change.
The main culprits of deforestation are agricultural workers, logging and paper operations, builders looking to provide buildings and dwellings, and natural causes such as wildfires. Human beings are not respecting the environment when they intentionally cut down trees for their own personal use. Trees provide multifarious enhancements to today’s world, and humans are barbarously wiping them out one by one. If one tree was planted for every tree that was cut down, deforestation would be less of an issue in current day times, and would provide security for generations to come.
The theme of Catholic Social Teaching that best applies to deforestation is Care for God’s Creation. God called on us to take care of his world that He created for us. By disrespecting the Earth we are disrespecting God. Deforestation is harmful to both the planet and its inhabitants. It is Catholic duty to help protect the environment, and advocate for what God asked us to do in taking care of it. Catholics worldwide should take more action in helping to combat deforestation, and providing alternatives to harming God’s blessed creation.
Part 2: Movie Review and Analysis
The Lorax is a heart-warming adaption of Dr. Seuss’s children’s story The Lorax. Directed by Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda, The Lorax explains the story of a young boy named Ted and his encounter with an odd man, The Onceler. In a society where clean air and plastic trees are provided by services, Ted travels to the outskirts of his town on the search for a living tree. The Oncelor goes on to tell Ted the story of how his business endeavors caused the trees to go extinct. The Oncelor told Ted about an orange, fluffy creature named the Lorax who was the Guardian of the Forest. Near the end of the movie, The Oncleor gives Ted the last tree seed, and Ted plants it in the middle of his town back home.
Renaud and Balda portrayed the deforestation aspect of The Lorax very accurately. When the Oncelor started to cut down the trees, the wonderful creatures and features of the land started to get sick. The food source for the animals was gone, the air was being polluted by some from tree-chopping machines, and the production process of the Oncelor’s business caused oil to be dumped into the ponds where the lovely singing fish lived. The directors intentionally made the creatures of the land the most adorable little things in the world. Once the habitat was unlivable for the creatures, they all lined up and moped away from their once-perfect home creating a depressing effect for the audience.
The theme of Catholic Social Teaching that The Lorax is connected to is Care for God’s Creation. Deforestation and pollution are two major factors in this movie, both of which are going against what God asked his children to do which is to care for His creation. Catholics are called to reach out and help preserve the environment to ensure safety for humans, animals, and plants. Ted and The Oncelor work together to plant a tree, in hopes of reproducing many more trees. The two explain to the townspeople that every person must help to restore the vibrant trees that their town once new. Personally, I love this movie and I think it has a powerful message for all people. It reminds Catholics that it is their responsibility to preserve the trees!