The Lorax was way ahead of its time

Dr. Seuss, that icon of my youth, is relevant all over again.

When we started planning the Chronicle's annual Green Issue, my mind travelled back to 'The Street of the Lifted Lorax,' where a boy, confronted by a dark and smoggy wasteland of a neighbourhood, gets to first hear the story of a strange little being known as The Lorax.

When The Lorax, who claimed 'to speak for the trees,' confronted the Once-ler, who made unnecessary consumer garments called 'Thneeds,' which he claimed 'everyone needs,' over his destruction of the forest of Truffula Trees, he was speaking for all of us.

When the Once-ler, who represents industry in general, finally cuts down the last of the Truffula Trees, the once-sunny forest teeming with life such as Swomee-Swans, Humming-Fish and Brown Bar-ba-loots, was left empty and barren; life was gone from this place, and with a 'sad backward glance, the Lorax picked himself up by the seat of his pants,' after he had sent the other animals away to greener pastures.

The bedtime allegory, was first published in 1971, and foretold the desolation and emptiness created when nature is consumed without regard for its preservation or restoration.

And honestly, it scared the hell out of me.

The dark sky, the desolate landscape, and the Once-ler, now remorseful over his mistreatment of the Truffula Trees and their environs, handing the boy the last Truffula seed, so he can go and re-plant the trees also painted a picture of corporate titans, whose actions. It's a world I don't want to live in, and certainly not one I want to hand over to my daughter.

Given what we know about the environment, its fragility, its finiteness and our effect on it, wouldn't you want to get on board?

Five years ago, I scoffed. I was a non-believer. Environmentalists were 'tree-huggers' and needed to spend more time in the real world.

Now, we live in An Inconvenient World, with its disappearing ice caps, rising water levels, killer hurricanes and rising oil prices. I've seen the evidence mounting since 1999. Our weather and climate patterns are inarguably shifting, and the environment's movement into the mainstream as a political issue is clear evidence I'm not the only one who feels this way. Honestly, recycling and composting isn't all that tough, and frankly, if you’re not doing it, you're not doing your part.

Other ways to help curb the damage we're doing to our planet's health every day include curbing electricity use by turning off fans and televisions when you've left the room, walking or cycling places instead of driving, to cut down on carbon emissions and oil use.

Buy a hybrid car that runs partly on gasoline and partly on electricity generated by a battery, or don't buy a car at all. Or maybe you could just get out of your SUV and walk into the café instead of idling for 15 minutes in the drive-through lane with the air-conditioning going. Of course, that would require you to walk out in the stifling heat and sunshine – which, of course, is partially caused by greenhouse gases, man-made, of course, that have depleted the layer of ozone protecting us from the full brunt of the sun's powerful energy.

I want to channel Maude Flanders and chirp 'won't somebody please think of the children,' but that's a little trite. Maybe another recommendation.

Try reading The Lorax, just once. Maybe its lessons will once again take hold.

I guess the Lorax really never went away at all.

I just wasn't listening.