Mecology Song - 1970s educational film
August 21, 2016 5:14 PM   Subscribe

Along in the late 1970s when I was in grammar school, we watched a film in class that had a catchy tune about "Mecology" -- the idea being that ecology is relevant to you and "me." What was this film? (Could it have had something to do with being on a spaceship, or is my memory playing tricks on me?)

Along in the late 1970s when I was in grammar school, we watched a film in class that had a catchy tune about "Mecology" -- the idea being that ecology is relevant to you and "me." What was this film? (Could it have had something to do with being on a spaceship, or is my memory playing tricks on me?)
posted by cmp4Meta to Education (6 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I remember seeing this film too! Also in the '70s when I was in grade school. I remember that the film had a bunch of "chapters," in each of which a kid would talk about how ecology was important to him or her. Examples: one kid talked about conservation, another talked about recycling. Etc. At the end of each chapter, the kid would sing "Just add Ecology to Me, that's Mecology." Then, at the end of the film, they talked about how ecology was important to everyone, and if everybody did their part, we could keep the planet great. Then they all sang the end song, some of which was:

We can help save the day,
In lots and lots of little ways,
Just add Ecology to We,
That's Wecology.

And the song went on and on and on until we were all sick of it, even though we'd enjoyed the film. And I remember it to this day.

But I don't recall the name of the film or any more than what I've written above. And I don't remember anything about spaceships. :) I really hope you get a more definitive answer, because now this is going to drive me nuts!
posted by Boogiechild at 9:33 PM on August 21, 2016


I remember this too, probably around 1981. I can sing the song for you! And I particularly remember the bad boy Toby in our class made a parody lyric "I can saw a tire in half... and use it for a toilet seat".

Just spent 15 minutes looking hard for this on the Internet and failed. There's a few Youtube hits for it that look like similar educational films, but I can't figure out why Youtube search would think they are a hit for "mecology". I also couldn't find it in archive.org's educational film collection.

This would be an excellent question for a librarian. I imagine it's findable in offline records of educational filmstrips for elementary schools.
posted by Nelson at 7:37 AM on August 22, 2016


Best answer: OK, I found some more info on it by being able to search the lyrics that Boogiechild provided. The film appears in the following bibliography published by the EPA on page 8 and was evidently called "Meecology." I will keep looking in hopes of turning up a copy!

https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/20016KI4.txt?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=1976%20Thru%201980&Docs=&Query=%28Child%29%20OR%20FNAME%3D%2220016KI4.txt%22%20AND%20FNAME%3D%2220016KI4.txt%22&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&UseQField=&IntQFieldOp=0&ExtQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A%5CZYFILES%5CINDEX%20DATA%5C76THRU80%5CTXT%5C00000009%5C20016KI4.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=1&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8/r75g8/x150y150g16/i425&Display=hpfr&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results%20page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=12
posted by cmp4Meta at 8:31 PM on August 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


Best answer: It was made by McDonald's of all things! Here's a link to the library record:

http://www.worldcat.org/title/meecology/oclc/5611401
posted by cmp4Meta at 8:36 PM on August 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


WOW!
posted by Boogiechild at 9:28 PM on August 22, 2016


Nicely done! The correct spelling finds all sorts of stuff online which I imagine you're sorting through.

The most interesting hit I found for it was this EPA page for "Films From US EPA Region V 1980", which credits the film to "Christopher Productions for the McDonald's Corporation and the Dayton Museum of Natural History". There's a site online for Christopher Productions with educational films that look similar, but I couldn't find Meecology.

Also... USC lists a 16mm copy in the archives. And a Meecology poster is all over eBay, here's an image I cached.
posted by Nelson at 7:20 AM on August 23, 2016


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