Dr. Seuss Lorax Challenge Winners Announced

I am the Lorax!
I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues,
And I'm telling you now, at the top of my lungs -
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not.

Now the globe is warming and smog chokes the sky,
Landfills are brimming - trash teeters sky high!
Earth needs your help, and it needs your help now!
Problems need solving.
And you might know how.

Pitch your idea, pitch it to me!
And I'll help you grow it, from seed to a tree.
Now is the time, this is the hour -
Show the world which you're changing
That you've got the power!

And with the Lorax Challenge put forth, youth ages 12-20 were recently invited to submit proposals to turn their dreams of saving the planet into reality. The Lorax Challenge was based upon the well-known Dr. Seuss character, the Lorax.




Fifty-three winning teams from across the US each received $1000 to launch their venture. Of those teams, the following five Grand Prize winners were selected to receive an all expense paid trip to the University of Florida for an Environmental Boot Camp.

1,000 Trees Project: Gallows Run Tree Squad (Upper Black Eddy, PA) will engage the entire community to plant 1,000 native trees. The team wants to show the community that they can do something to combat global warming and increase the number of trees to replace those that have been lost due to deer overgrazing, flooding and developments. Their progress will be tracked on an internet mapping site open to the public.


Climate Action Club (Nobleboro, ME) is dedicated to raising awareness and fighting Global Warming around their school and in their entire community. The team plans to install energy efficient software on all campus computers as a way to save hundreds of kilowatts of energy and gallons of CO2. The team also plans to install vending misers on vending machines in their school to further reduce the use of energy. To educate the community, the team plans to create a community-wide battery recycling program and a community-wide ban on plastic bags. They hope to design a town canvas bag, have stores offer paper as an alternative, and have shoppers pay extra if they insist on plastic.


Fielder’s Choice: Making More than Just the Outfields Green (Washington, D.C.) centers on the idea of implementing a “Green Day” celebration at the Washington Nationals’ new baseball stadium. This Venture proposes to organize an annual event at the ballpark around Earth Day to educate and energize fans about taking global action. The “Green Day” event will take place during an actual Nationals Major League baseball game so that fans will see the stadium’s devotion to preserving the environment. Throughout the year, Fielder’s Choice will help the Nationals Stadium promote environmentally friendly practices to reduce the new stadium’s carbon footprint while also educating fans and citizens.


Going Green Computers and Consulting (Fairfax, VA) is facilitating the recycling of old computers to help the environment. The Venture sets up recycling drives and educates the community about how and why computers should be recycled. The Venture works with companies that take in the recycled computers to be refurbished, which are then brought into schools and communities that are in need of newer technology.


Sustainable Water Recycling System (Anchorage, KY) aims to create a water recycling system that uses rain barrels, a natural purification system and natural refrigeration that allows rain water to be used for sustainable gardening. It will create a place for vegetable washing, water storage for irrigation and vegetable storage. It will also be part of an organic gardening project that is open to the public to learn about sustainability.

The contest was sponsored by Youth Venture and Dr. Seuss Enterprises in collaboration with Earth Island Institute (http://earthisland.org/).

Enjoy the following video of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax from Google Video.