A rap about the climate crisis made by children at a tiny Irish school has already been watched tens of thousands of times on YouTube and been shared so often that it's beginning to go viral.
One Small Change, released just over a week ago, was made by children at the two-teacher Cappabue National School, near Bantry in Co Cork, which had just 23 pupils on its roll at the start the year. They decided to make the video after being shocked by the amount of litter they found when they went to help clean up local beaches.
The school's principal, Norma Healy, says it made them all question their lifestyle choices and look at how they could become more environmentally sensitive. The school now avoids single-use plastic bottles, for example, and children bring stainless-steel drink containers to school.
"The children wanted to spread the message to other school children as to how they too could make a difference in their own small way," she says, so they teamed up with a local music producer, Garry McCarthy of GMCBeats.
“Working in groups, the children came up with the entire content of the song themselves. Garry set up a recording desk in the classroom, and, under his expert direction, One Small Change was born.”
The school then made the video to go with it, filming in Gougane Barra, in Glengarriff Nature Reserve and at Snave beach. It clocked up more 10,000 views in its first four days online and now, after a total of nine days, has been watched almost 35,000 times.
“We are so proud of the end product,” Healy says. “It is being shared extensively. The message the children wanted to spread is really being delivered, which is what the project sought to achieve in the first instance.”
One Small Change: The lyrics
We can make a difference in our own small way.
It's one small change: we can do that today.
Our mind's getting bigger while the world's getting smaller,
but saving the Earth's becoming a tall order.
From the minute you wake from your nightly nap,
you can make little changes, like turning off the tap
while brushing your teeth in the bathroom.
You can cycle or walk your way to the classroom,
cut down the fuel you use to get to school...
In your lunch box cut down the plastic.
See? These things aren't too drastic.
Spread the word, get vocal. Make it go global.
When buying food stay local.
Never mind the dishwasher, do it by hand.
But I hate washing up.
Ah, come on, it's grand.
Just one small change in the little things we do:
we'll show you how, and now it's up to you.
It's our future. It's our Earth. We need to protect it for what it's worth.
It's our future. It's our Earth. We need to protect it for what it's worth.
Since we found out the Earth was sick,
we knew we had to do something quick.
The Earth is our family and our friend,
we need to mend it before it ends.
This is our home, so don't destroy it.
Everyone should do their bit.
Ice caps melting, seas getting high.
Homes will be flooded, polar bears will die.
The sun's getting hotter, the rain won't fall.
I'm afraid we won't survive at all.
Recycle the plastic, please – it's free –
you don't want that ending up in the sea.
It's like people use this planet as a bin.
Pick up your trash: that's where you begin.
Temperatures are rising, we are realising
we must act now. There's no compromising…
Just one small change in the little things we do:
we'll show you how, and now it's up to you.
It's our future. It's our Earth. We need to protect it for what it's worth.
It's our future. It's our Earth. We need to protect it for what it's worth.
If you cut down flowers and trees you contribute
to the mass extinction of the bees.
Think of the creatures that don't have a say.
There has to be a better way.
There's no higher being to save the Earth.
We've got to do something before we get cut.
At school we know what to do. But my question is, Do you?
Just one small change in the little things we do:
we'll show you how, and now it's up to you.
It's our future. It's our Earth. We need to protect it for what it's worth.
It's our future. It's our Earth. We need to protect it for what it's worth...
