In a new public service spot out of Unalaska, fourth graders from Eagle’s View Elementary School sing and dance to the tune of rapper M.I.A’s “Paper Planes.” Unlike M.I.A., whose lyrics are about immigrant stereotypes, drugs and violence, the fourth graders are recruiting for a community cleanup.
We see plastic bags and Comet with bleach/
Trash around town can be such a drag/
So we walk through with this yellow bag.”
The iconic gun shots and ka-chings in the original song’s chorus are replaced with well-punctuated sounds of industrial strength garbage bags being whipped open. The onomatopoeia is rounded out with trash being crushed and dunked into bags.
Chrissy Roes of KUCB’s Channel 8 worked closely with fourth grade teacher Mary Heimes to create the music video PSA.
The Unalaska Community Center organizes two weeks of intensive spring cleanup each year to deal with a winter’s worth of stormy weather that dumps trash on the beaches and along the roads.
This year’s cleanup runs from May 1 through May 15. As part of the cleanup, the center has even stashed 12 prize tickets around town that can be redeemed for a prize.
KUCB’s Lauren Adams contributed to this report.
