Finding an environmental message in the lyrics of a hip hop song can be tough.

Students at Rock Creek Elementary, however, had the opportunity to experience just that during lunch on Dec. 7 when the Green Team put on a performance of the “Compost Rap” in the cafeteria to teach their classmates about the school’s composting program.

The performance is a part of the school’s strategy to become a King County-certified Level 2 green school.

The lyrics were written by Stacie Loftus, the PTSA chairman of recycling. She admitted hip hop music is not a genre she is very familiar with.

“I don’t know anything about rap,” she said.

She said she decided to choose rap because it was much simpler, and more interesting, than a lecture.

“I picked a rap song because I felt it would be an easy thing to teach, and also an easy thing to write,” she said. “It’s something they can relate to and they can hear the words so they get the message.”

During the performance, the Green Team members wore items such as bagels and cardboard boxes, which can be composted, as a way of giving visual cues to students.

“It’s all paper, it’s all food, and it can all be composted,” Loftus said.

In May 2010, Rock Creek formed a partnership with Cedar Grove Composting, which collects all the school’s compost material on a weekly basis. Doing this, Loftus said, keeps about 60,000 pounds of compost material out of landfills and saves the school about $600 a month.

“It’s a tremendous amount we’re saving,” she said. “Anytime we can recycle we save money.”

According to Loftus, the school also donates recyclable material to TerraCycle, which pays them annually based on the total amount.

“Anytime we recycle we get money,” she said.

Loftus introduced the song to the Green Team a month ago when she felt like the club was large enough to put it on.

“When the Green Team got to be this size we decided to do it with them,” she said.

Although the entire Green Team put on the performance, fifth grader Sarah Makala led the team after she incorporated other elements into it.

“Sarah came up with the hand motions,” Loftus said. “Sarah added the extra element to make it more authentic.”

Ironically, Makala said her performance was not based off of any rapper or hip hop artist, but off of her little sister, Ami.

She added that she enjoyed performing it in front of the younger students.

“I get to see the little kids and how they are doing it,” she said.