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Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that there's nothing but positive messages on this album. The man behind Recycleman is Peter DuBois, a waste reduction specialist in Washington. He wears his superhero costume -- made out of recycled materials, of course! -- as he sings his bluesy, folksy songs about recycling, composting, and the problems with SUVs. The short songs and pleasing music make this CD able to capture kids' attention and get them excited about recycling and other eco-friendly things.

Families can talk about they can do to help the planet. What are things that can be recycled? What can you do to keep oil out of the water supply? How do you compost? How can you avoid toxins?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Heidi Kotansky

Each song on EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY presents a problem that affects our Earth -- from litter to gas-guzzling SUVs -- without seeming overly preachy. But despite the somewhat depressing material ("We Americans we love to drive fast cause we're a nation that is drunk on gas/But one of these days those oil wells will be dry and all our grandkids will be asking us why?"), the songs manage to remain somewhat upbeat.

"Re: Recycle" is an up-tempo country- and blues-influenced number that has a lot of "yeahs" and "ooh yeahs" to sing along with. Recycleman gets you to repeat the word "Compost" over and over again in the song of the same name, and "Stuck on Trash," a jam-band sound reminiscent of the Grateful Dead, is all about reducing waste. "Oil and Water Don't Mix" with its guitar-driven melody has a Latin flavor and talks about how oil can contaminate our water supply.

The band is so true to its mission that it even uses soda bottles filled with popcorn, yogurt containers filled with lentils, and hubcaps as their percussion instruments -- along with a kazoo, drums, and acoustic and electric guitars. While the lyrics aren't brilliant ("You drained out all the milk now don't commit a sin/Rinse out that old milk jug and put it in the bin and recycle"), the songs are short and catchy enough that kids will probably start singing along after hearing the CD just once. After all, as the title track says, "It could be September it could be May it could be the weekend it could be a weekday Every Day Is Earth Day."

Kids who like this CD, might also enjoy Animal Crackers.

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