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Movie Review: Eco-themed

By movie critic Maximo Gonzalez

The Lorax (2012)

Promotional image for The Lorax . Universal Pictures © (2012) 

Cast/Voice talent: The Lorax (Danny DeVito), Ted (Zac Efron), Audrey (Taylor Swift), Once-ler (Ed Helms)

Director: Chris Renaud 

Synopsis: A 12-year-old boy searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world.

Review:

The Lorax is an animated film, released in 2012, which is an adaptation of the book of the same name, written by Dr. Seuss, considered by some people as his magnum opus. As seen in previous adaptations of Seuss’s books, they were all expected with really high expectations, but ended up being big disappointments, even with a great cast and production team. But luckily, this is a completely different story. With a star filled voice cast, and amazing visuals, this humoristic animated film with a powerful, yet entertaining message is a great movie for a boring afternoon or if you love visually appealing animation, this movie is an ok adaptation of Seuss’s original book, embellished with humor and silly songs that capture the youngest audience.

The plot is very simple, Zach Efron gives voice to Ted, a very young kid who has a big crush on his ecologically conscious older neighbor, Audrey, voiced by big pop star Taylor Swift. Determined to win Audrey’s affection, Ted sets his sights beyond the plastic walls of the town of Thneedville in search of the legendary Truffula Tree, Audrey’s dream and fascination. He does this with a bit of help and guidance from his Granny Norma. After getting outside the walls of his town, he gets to the isolated home of the Once-ler, who shares his tale of greed, having stripped the entire Truffula Valley of its vegetation despite the intervention of the tree’s guardian, an orange sprite called The Lorax. Ted starts visiting the Once-ler constantly, but his visits don't go unnoticed, however, as Mr. O'Hare, a man who makes his living off the absence of trees and is the mayor of Thneedville, warns him to stay away from the Once-Ler.

Even though the movie captures the original book’s message, it doesn’t quite hit the right note, as the original is looked more as a dark ecological disaster tale, while the movie seems too childish and simple, making the message a bit unsatisfying if you had high expectations of it. One thing to point out is that the color pallete and 3D animation is absolutely stunning, the film is very visually appealing. One thing that doesn't quite hit the chord is the music, the original soundtrack is going for a pop rock direction, but it ends up being nondescript. 

Even though it has small details and fails, The Lorax is a good movie, with very good visual aspects, a great cast and an entertaining and captivating plot, making it a perfect movie to watch on a boring day to catch some laughs, both children and adults will be captivated by it, and left with a simple, but nonetheless important ecological message, forming a consciousness and pushing people to take care of our planet. 

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Caring for our primate friends

Interview with Jane Goodall by Edith Angulo

Dr. Goodall is one of the most influential scientists in the world. She took the lead in investigating wild chimpanzees in Gombe Nature Park, Tanzania. Careful observation of their behavior has completely changed the previous overview of these apes, thus changing the definition of the difference between humans and our most direct relatives on an evolutionary scale.He also discovered that they were not only capable of using tools, but also of making tools, which are considered exclusive to Homo sapiens, and described a complex social life in which chimpanzees live with primates. In the same way these present having emotions this has been confirmed through the study for more than 20 years, and not only feel fear or joy, but also compassion, solidarity, sadness, or extreme violence.

E.A.:What does it mean to care for a chimpanzee baby?

J.G.: There are so many people who buy chimpanzee babies to have this feeling, this being dependent with their arms clinging to your neck, these liquid eyes that look at you… and then they don't know what to do with them. When you find babies of orphaned chimpanzees, they get you to your heart. We have created safe areas for them, because we can't turn their backs, because these poor Huerphans come in and look at you in such a way that you can't tell them: Sorry, I have too many chimpanzees, you'll have to die.

E.A:How do you experience separation when chimpanzees can already fend for themselves?

J.G:When the chimpanzee baby grows, there comes a time when it leaves its mother, and if you take care of it the same thing happens, it becomes independent. There comes a time when they're stronger than you, and they're not like human children or want to be. They can bite, they can get angry, they can be dangerous. They're not fit to be pets. In the shrines, we try to get them together with their group as soon as possible, for their own good.It is true that it is a great responsibility because they can live more than sixty years, and we are now responsible for one hundred and thirteen chimpanzees in Tchimpounga.

E.A.:What experience has impacted you most with chimpanzees?

E.A.:It is very difficult to choose because there were so many experiences that reached my heart! But there was one especially touching. At the beginning of the investigations, when the chimpanzees were just getting used to me, one of them let me follow him through the jungle. As I followed him, I thought I lost him, but as I pulled some big leaves away, I saw him sitting there, almost like he was waiting for me, maybe he was.I saw a ripe fruit on the ground and caught it with my hand, offering it. She looked away and I brought her a little closer to the fruit. Then he turned to me and looked at me directly in the eyes, took the fruit and released it because he didn't want it, and squeezed my hand very gently, which is how the chimpanzees are consumed. They communicate with postures and gestures, a language that we bring from our primitive past and that we share with the chimpanzees.

Photography by Hugo Van Lawick/National Geographic Creative

Jane Goodall with LaVielle at the Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center in Congo Republic. Goodall, a world-famous champion of chimpanzees, began her career studying their behavior 60 years ago this month at Gombe Stream Game Reserve in what is now Tanzania. (JGI/Fernando Turmo)

Alberto D. Fraile Oliver.. (2009). Entrevista a Jane Goodall. Namasté: Conversaciones.

Coronado, K. (2020, July 7). Jane Goodall became a champion for chimpanzees. It started with a 10-year-old’s dream. Washington Post; The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/jane-goodall-became-a-champion-for-chimpanzees-it-started-with-a-10-year-olds-dream/2020/07/06/514c2dfe-a1e9-11ea-81bb-c2f70f01034b_story.html‌

National Geographic Society. (2017, November 13). Jane Goodall. National Geographic Society. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/jane-goodall/‌

Montserrat Domínguez. (2016, May 27). Entrevista con la primatóloga Jane Goodall: “Salvar el planeta depende de cada uno de nosotros.” El HuffPost; El HuffPost. https://www.huffingtonpost.es/2016/05/27/entrevista-a-jane-goodall_n_10162242.html

Todos los artículos sobre la vida y la biografía de Jane Goodall en National Geographic Historia. (2021). Historia.nationalgeographic.com.es. https://historia.nationalgeographic.com.es/personajes/jane-goodall

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It's time to disprove: the truth of ecological bags.

Published June 06, 2020, 12:47

Angeles Arellano

Since it began in Baja California in 2020 the marketing, distribution and delivery of disposable plastic bags is prohibited, but the bags being proposed as reusable items such as propylene and being sold in the supermarket are of very poor quality. they are going to break very quickly and they are going to be more of the same because they are going to end up in the trash.

For some time now, on the streets I have seen people using these supermarket bags that replaced plastic bags and claim to be ecological, but I can't help but ask myself: Very ecological, right? But what are they made of? Are they really as green as they claim to be?

I imagine that more than once you have heard how the green color in the clothes of the past was toxic and harmful to the human being and that made people hallucinate and sick. Today that no longer happens, but what will be the cruel truth of green? the most powerful symbol of sustainable design, it is not ecologically responsible and can harm the environment. Pigment Green 7, for example, is an organic pigment, but contains chlorine, some forms of which can cause cancer and birth defects.

Another popular tone, Pigment Green 36, includes potentially dangerous bromide atoms as well as chlorine; while the inorganic pigment Green 50 is a harmful cocktail of cobalt, titanium, nickel and zinc oxide. This means that plastic and green paper cannot be recycled or converted into compost safely, because they could contaminate everything else.

You will probably already know that plastic contaminates the planet, as it accumulates in any corner of the planet and takes too long to start to degrade, even some plastic materials can remain almost intact centuries. What are the bags that are called “green” made of? the bags called "green" are made of polypropylene, which does not degrade easily as it takes 20-30 years to completely decompose, and only about 1% are recycled.

And what is its environmental impact? Bags made of polypropylene should be used at least 11 times so that their environmental impact is less than that of a traditional plastic bag. Its environmental impact is 21,510 kg of CO2 and can carry a weight of 107 to 124 kg. On average, eco-friendly bags are used 44 times before being thrown away. however, their useful life depends on the quality of material with which they are made and their seams.

As you can see, ecological bags are not as ecological as they are called, they are made of a plastic that is difficult to break down completely and that very little percentage is recycled. With a toxic green color and harmful both for the planet and for our health, and with gigantic environmental impact. So what is the best alternative? While all bags have an environmental impact, there are alternatives that we can do from home, such as: bags of reused materials, such as old gravel that you will no longer use, newspaper, etc. Just let your creativity fly! And give a second life to those materials that you thought you would never use again.

Photo from Green Project V

Sources: 

A. (2020, January 19). ¿Son “verdes” las bolsas ecológicas? Mi Bolsillo. https://www.mibolsillo.com/tips/Son-verdes-las-bolsas-ecologicas-20200119-0003.html

Rawsthorn, A. (2010, April 4). The Toxic Side of Being, Literally, Green. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/arts/05iht-design5.html

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Green Icon: First African woman to win Nobel Prize

By Sophia Martínez, Freelance journalist and writer

Male-predominant spaces are everywhere and this does not exclude the Nobel Prizes. Sure, we have certainly come a long way, but the context was very different from even ten years ago. In the year 2004, Wangari Maathai was the first African woman to win a Nobel Prize award of Peace. The prize's motivation was “for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace”.

Photo from the Nobel Foundation Archive

As I mentioned before, she was the first African woman to receive the Nobel Prize, and she was also the first female scholar from East and Central Africa to take a doctorate (in biology), and the first female professor ever in her home country of Kenya. Maathai was such a successful woman, and she played an active part in the struggle for democracy in Kenya. Maathai herself funded and led the Green Belt Movement in 1977. This was a grass-roots movement aimed at countering the deforestation that was threatening the means of subsistence of the agricultural population. This campaign encouraged women to plant trees in their local environments and to think ecologically. The Green Belt Movement fortunately spread to other African countries, and contributed to the planting of over thirty million trees. “Using trees as a symbol of peace is in keeping with the widespread African traditions”, said Maathai.

Wangari Maathai with her Nobel Medal and Diploma at the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony, Oslo City Hall, Norway. Copyright © Pressens Bild AB 2004, SE-112 88 Stockholm, Sweden, telephone: +46-8-738 38 00 Photo: John McConnico

Importantly, Maathai’s mobilization of African women was not restricted in its vision to work for sustainable development; she saw tree-planting in a great perspective which included, but not limited to, democracy, women’s rights, and international solidarity. She was a true believer that hard work is worth it—“Initially, the work was difficult because, historically, our people have been persuaded into believing that because they are poor, they lack not only capital but also knowledge and skills to address the challenges. Instead, they are conditioned to believe that the solutions to their problems must come from outside”—.

Regarding her personal life, Wangari Muta Maathai was born in Nyeri, Kenya (Africa) in 1940. Sadly, she passed away on the 25th of September 2011. She obtained multiple degrees; a degree in Biological Sciences from Mt. Scholastica College (1964); a Master of Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh (1966); and doctoral studies overseas. As if this wasn’t enough to show how awesome she was, she also had many important jobs and titles, such as chair of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy at the University of Nairobi; she served at the National Council of Women of Kenya and at the Jane Goodall Institute; and chairman of the National Council of women of Kenya (1981-87), which, while she served this job, she introduced the idea of planting trees and develop it into an organization.

Wangari helped countless people throughout her life, and she is, and will always be, an extraordinary figure to admire. “Today, we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life support system. We are called to assist the earth to heal our woods, and in the process, heal our own. Indeed, to embrace the whole creations and all its diversity, beauty, and wonder.”

Portrait of Wangari Maathai, taken in 1989 during her time as the leader of the Green Belt Movement in Nairobi, Kenya. Copyright © David Blumenkrantz Kindly provided by David Blumenkrantz

Sources:  Wangari Maathai – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2021. Tue. 8 Jun 2021. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2004/maathai/facts/>