After Helen and Ronald argue over whether the words are about environmentalism or cars, Helen is seen cooking hot dogs in her solar cooker with Martha and Skits nearby. She explains what it is, and what alternative energy is, then reveals that there's an environmentalist go-kart race coming up. She needs a partner, so Martha volunteers.
Helen then goes to the library in an attempt to research how to make an environmentally-friendly go-kart, only to find out that Ronald Boxwood has checked out all the books on alternative energy. She and Martha ask him if they can borrow a few, but he claims that he only took them so other people won't read them, and doesn't reveal why. He denies that he's racing in the go-kart race, but then Reginald shows up and reveals that the two of them are.
After doing online research, Helen goes into the garage and tells Martha that she wants to make their go-kart solar-powered like the hot dog cooker. They then have Danny take them to the junkyard for some parts to use. There, they run into T.D. and Alice, who are also entering in the go-kart race and looking for parts. They've decided to power their go-kart with the wind. Helen wonders what they'd do if there wasn't any wind, and T.D. says he wants to build a giant wind machine, but Alice disagrees. Meanwhile, Ronald and Reginald are spying on Helen and her friends, only to be seen by Helen.
On their way back, Helen, Martha, and Daniel run into Truman and Milo, who are also entering the go-kart race. Truman's bag is dripping and smells bad, and he doesn't have time to explain, but later, he explains to Milo that he's going to fuel their go-kart with pond scum. So, Helen, Martha, Danny, T.D., Alice, O.G., Truman, Milo, Mrs. Oatley, Ronald, and Reginald begin working on their go-karts (but Ronald blocks the screen from the viewers).
On the day of the race, Helen and Martha's go-kart sticks when the sun goes behind a cloud, Alice and T.D.'s one doesn't move at all as there's no wind (and they didn't build a wind machine), and Truman and Milo's takes a while to boot up. Eventually, however, their go-kart moves, and then the cloud moves so Helen and Martha's go-kart starts moving too.
The go-karts keep a good pace, with the exception of Helen and Martha's, which has to stop for every cloud. Ronald and Reginald (who have a fish tank on their go-kart) are in the lead, but Truman and Milo are catching up, so Ronald and Reginald cheat by chewing gum and using it to jam Truman and Milo's fuel dispenser. A slight wind blows, but not enough to move T.D. and Alice far. When Helen and Martha begin to overtake Ronald and Reginald, they cheat again by covering the go-kart's panel.
Truman, Milo, Martha, and Helen fix their go-karts and then complain to each other about the teens' cheating. The wind picks up, moving T.D. and Alice along, and they almost win, but unfortunately Ronald and Reginald beat them. They claim that their go-kart is powered by the fish. The announcer asks the teen boys to drive around and show them how the go-kart works, but they argue over who should drive and eventually crash, revealing that the go-kart was made off a normal one. The guy in charge disqualifies them for not using alternative energy and makes Alice and T.D. the winners.
This episode provides examples of
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal:
- Martha wears a crash helmet and a bandanna when imagining the go-kart.
- She then wears a helmet during the race.
- Creation Sequence: At one point, we see a montage of the racers, Danny, O.G., and Mrs. Oatley working on making their go-karts.
- Death Glare: One of the racers glares at Truman and Milo for using smelly algae as fuel.
- Disqualification-Induced Victory: The only reason T.D. and Alice won is because Ronald and Reginald were disqualified for not using alternative energy.
- Fantasy Sequence:
- Martha imagines racing with Helen in a high-tech solar go-kart.
- T.D. imagines himself and Alice on their wind-powered go-kart.
- Truman imagines himself and Milo racing in an algae-powered, spider-like machine.
- Foreshadowed: Ronald and Reginald not using alternative energy is foreshadowed by them being secretive (even to the viewers) about how they made their go-kart.
- Green Aesop: The episode has a theme of alternative energy.
- Hypocritical Humour: Ronald berates Helen for "spying on [him]", even though he and Reginald were spying on her and her friends.
- Medium Awareness: Ronald covers the screen when he and Reginald are shown building their go-kart.
- Stock Animal Diet: Martha and Skits enjoy sausages and Martha wants a steak.
