The episode begins with Peg and Cat walking through a forest in the autumn. Peg introduces herself and Cat and then explains that they're extremely excited. Cat asks why they're supposed to be excited and Peg explains that they're going to watch the nursery school Halloween parade. Cat expresses excitement at the prospect of candy, then Peg announces that she and Cat are going to play a game that involves going crazy in a pile of leaves. They go a bit crazy, but then get juice boxes on their heads (Cat also has one on his tail). They look around and see more juice boxes, so Peg concludes that somebody had a picnic but didn't clean up, which is a problem because they can't go crazy in the leaves if there is junk in the leaf pile. However, she knows how to solve all mess-related problems: simply clean it up. She puts gloves on and gives Cat a pair so they don't get juice on them.
Cat picks up a bunch of juice boxes and a fork (while singing) and is about to throw them away, when Peg tells him to wait. He falls into the bin and asks her why. Peg says that they should recycle the juice boxes and they head to the recycling bin, but keep dropping the boxes. Peg thinks it's because there are two different sized boxes and decides she has to sort them. Cat doesn't know what sorting is, so she explains. Then, they sort the boxes, singing as they do so and turning it into a dance towards the end. After the boxes are sorted, Peg asks Cat to take the small pile of boxes. Cat wants to carry the big pile and Peg says, "No problem," prompting them to sing "Problem Solved", but then Cat gets his glove caught on a stick, launching him into the recycling bin and making him drop his juice boxes.
Viv and Ramone show up, looking sad. Peg asks why they look sad and they reply that the kids can't march there because there is no room for them to walk with all the juice boxes on the ground. Ramone suggests cancelling the parade, but Peg is adamant that the kids were looking forward to it, so they can't just up and cancel it. Cat agrees, saying that he can't wait to eat candy. They do a speech, standing on soap boxes, ending with the phrase "The parade must go on!" which Peg asks Viv and Ramone to say with them.
They agree to clean it up, but they have to do it quickly. Ramone goes to fetch more recycling bins, while Peg, Viv, and Cat sort the recycling, Peg putting herself in charge of cardboard and paper, Cat in charge of plastic, and Viv in charge of metal. After a while, Peg observes that Viv has three metal piles and asks her why. Viv explains that she's sorted the metal into dainty things, pretty things, and containers. Peg tells her to change it into one pile as they're in a hurry. Peg then sees that Viv is wearing bottle caps as earrings and asks her why. Viv explains that she found them too pretty to recycle, so she reused them instead. Cat wonders if "reuse" means "use as jewelry". Peg explains the real definition and Ramone comes with the bins.
They fill them, but need more. Ramone asks how many more bins they need, but Peg doesn't know and notes that she can't count the junk as that would take too long. Ramone suggests estimating instead. Peg and Cat aren't so sure about the idea of guessing to solve problems, but Ramone sings to them about estimating and they agree to do so. However, Peg thinks Cat's estimations aren't "careful" enough and decides to make her estimates by comparing the size of the junk piles to the size of the bins. This works, and she estimates one metal bin, two plastic bins, and three paper bins. Ramone and Mac arrive with the bins, they fill them, and Mac takes the bins away.
It looks like all is well, but there are more juice boxes in the leaf pile. However, after the usual freaking out/counting backwards scene, Peg observes Cat arching his back to stretch, which inspires her to make the boxes into an arch. They build said arch and then the kids come and do the parade while Peg and the adults sing about sorting.
This episode provides examples of
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal:
- Cat wears gloves while cleaning up.
- Baby Fox, who wears only a bandanna and a diaper, features.
- Blowing a Raspberry: Baby Fox blows several raspberries during the "Sorted it Out" song.
- Character Tics: Peg waves her arms around twice, although only the second time is her usual time, i.e. when she freaks out. The first time, she was just goofing off.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- When Peg says that she knows what to do if there's a mess, Cat suggests, "Cover it with leaves?".
- When Viv wears bottle caps as earrings and explains that she reused them, Cat thinks that "reuse" means "to use as jewelry".
- Double Aesop: This episode actually has three lessons: be nice to the environment by recycling, reusing, and cleaning up, know how to sort, and know how to estimate.
- Furry Reminder: Cat arches his back to stretch, which is something cats actually do. Exploited as this inspires Peg to make the juice boxes into an arch.
- Green Aesop: In addition to the mathematical lessons, this episode also talks about recycling, reusing, and cleaning up litter.
- Halloween Episode: This episode takes place on Halloween, although it's during the day, not at night.
- The Klutz: Cat is just as clumsy as usual, falling into the bin, dropping his juice boxes (although Peg dropped hers too) and getting his glove caught on a stick, launching him into the recycling bin.
- Musical Chores:
- When Peg and Cat are sorting the juice boxes, ready to be recycled, they sing and dance.
- When Peg, Cat, and Viv are sorting the juice boxes again, with the addition of more junk, they also sing about it.
- Out-of-Character Moment: Ramone, the boy who usually "does what he can", suggests cancelling the parade solely because of the juice boxes on the ground. To top it off, the recycling bin was right there. True, there was a time limit, but it's still out of character.
- Sweet Tooth: Cat mentions that he wants candy several times and the candy seems to be his favourite part of Halloween.
