Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Remix.

They say that meter spins too much, much, much
Well it's til' I turn off the light, turn off the light
They say that air leaks in too much, much, much
Well it's til' I make it more tight, make it more tight,
And I say follow me, follow me, follow me down down down down
til' you see 68
If everyone still feels a little cold, add a blanket to the bed, and insulate.

Tonight, I'm helping some 10-year olds learn about the meaning of Earth Day. We'll review how simple home energy conservation is and how meaningful its impacts are on the environment. We were to do this by penning a rap song about efficiency, an idea generated from this raw re-imagining of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes". My verbal dexterity, however, lacks verbal dexterity, so I've junked the concept. Instead we'll make solar bead bracelets, dig for coal using chocolate chip cookies and recycle the non-greasy parts of the pizza boxes from the pizza we're having for dinner. Had we gone through with the original idea, Nelly Furtado's "Turn Off the Lights" would have been perfect and obvious. The lyrics are sexually suggestive, but could easily be tweaked for the preteen set. So, if biking to work or planting a tree is too cliche for you, try this fun, new Earth Day activity instead.