The Lorax and “Easter’s End” are both examples of how societal decisions and structures can destroy the environment. In The Lorax, Dr. Seuss creates a world in which the decisions made by an entrepreneur sends the environment past the point of reparability, meanwhile in “Easter’s End”, a scientist examines the possible cause of Easter Island's decline in population due to lack of food and resources caused by the over-farming of the land. The Lorax and “Easter’s End”, while both dealing with the destruction of the environment, differ in three major ways: the method of destroying the environment, the ways in which the destruction could have been avoided, and the motivation behind causing the destruction.

The Lorax mainly focuses on industrialization's …show more content…
The “Once-ler” admires their beauty and their smell, but nevertheless takes advantage of this resource by cutting down all of the trees, releasing smog into the air, and spilling polluted water back into the lakes. Each of these actions takes its toll on the environment until; consequently, all of the organisms have left the area. The “Once-ler” learns his lesson too late and the land serves as a reminder to those who pass through it that one should not let personal greed destroy the environment around them. Conversely, in the article “Easter’s End”, the Polynesian people of Easter Island did not suffer from the effects of industrialization, but of the repercussions caused by over-farming the land. The people of Easter Island destroyed their environment by clearing out large sections of forest in order to make more farmland. By doing …show more content…
In The Lorax, there were multiple ways that the situation could have been watched in order to not progress as far as it did. The most significant of these options was being more environmentally aware. This could have included the “Once-ler” making sure he stayed under the rate of replacement set by the forest, a cleaner disposal of the sludge that pollutes the water, and focusing on reducing the smog by investing in cleaner burning fuels or utilizing renewable types of power like solar energy. Ordinarily, each of these precautions would have inhibited the growth of his business and short-term success and possibly would have prevented the business from growing as large as it did, but the long term success would have been greater as he would continue to have a healthy forest to obtain resources from. The people on Easter Island, however, did not have to deal with the consequences of industrialization, but with the effects of the misuse of resources. The islander’s main problem lied within the realm of resource management. By not planning ahead, the islanders over-produced until their was no more to produce. If the tribes of the island came together to create a sustainability plan, the downfall of the inhabitants could have been avoided and the island’s environment