“The Lorax,” a book published in

1971 by Dr. Seuss, is best remembered as a playful children’s story

that introduced kids to the idea of sustainability. To Nicole

Laurito, sophomore in animal ecology and anthropology, it was much

more than that. The infamous line from the story “I am the Lorax, I

speak for the trees!” became a mission statement for the club she

pioneered last semester at Iowa State.

Last summer Laurito went to Borneo,

Indonesia, with a volunteer group put together by the Orangutan

Foundation International. OFI was founded in 1971 by ecologist

Birute Galdikas as a program to help sustain the Indonesian

rainforest and the diverse species it plays host to, primarily the

orangutan. Orangutans live in Borneo and Sumatra, two of the larger

islands that make up Indonesia. 

Orangutans are endangered due to the

deforestation of their natural habitat. In the ‘60s around 80

percent of Indonesia was covered in tropical rainforest. Over the

course of the last 50 years, logging, palm-oil plantations and

corporate expansion has reduced the forest cover to less than half

that. 

“Most of the rainforests I visited

were secondary growth rainforest, which was really depressing. The

trees were much smaller than primary growth rainforest and couldn’t

support the orangutans,” Laurito said.

The trip struck a chord with Laurito

and inspired her to want to help after her return to the United

States. 

“Seeing all the babies at the camp

made us want to help them to grow up and be able to go out and live

in the rainforest and have their own babies,” she said.

This drive took form in a club she

later decided to call “The Lorax Troop.” The club is entirely

devoted to trying to conserve the rainforest in Indonesia with

emphasis on the great apes that she had become so fond of. Laurito

worked closely with Rainforest Action Nation to brainstorm ideas to

raise awareness. 

Her first move was to create a

Facebook page to get the word out. To gain further prominence she

put together a screening of the documentary “Green” at the Memorial

Union. During World Rainforest Week, she sold T-shirts and handed

out informational brochures on the issue. The money for the

T-shirts went to buying an acre of primary-growth rainforest in

Indonesia. 

Laurito also developed a petition to

try to get the company Cargill to switch to buying sustainable

palm-oil from local Indonesian farmers. And she is not stopping

there: The Lorax Troop is growing, and Laurito is working on other

big projects for the near future. 

To learn more, visit The Lorax

Troop’s page on Facebook.