The Royal Opera House are pleased to announce their latest reuse project at local school, St Clements Danes CofE Primary School in Covent Garden.
The Royal Opera House costume and props department donated bags of fabric left over from costumes that have graced the Royal Opera House Stage. The workshop gave the schoolchildren the opportunity to work alongside members of the costume department and learn how to cut patterns, design individual pieces and create unique Coronation bunting. The unused pieces of fabric were cut to shape with each child designing their own letter, with the bunting spelling out ‘King Charles Coronation 2023’.
The Coronation bunting will be on display at St Clements Danes CofE Primary School as part of their celebrations to mark the Kings Coronation. The Royal Opera House will also display bunting created by the pupils across the Coronation weekend.
Rachael O’Sullivan, Environmental Manager at the Royal Opera House, said:
‘The Royal Opera House produced 1.8 tonnes of waste fabric between January and March 2023; this is recycled as part of our commitment to reducing out environmental impact, but recycling it still produces around 38kg of carbon dioxide (roughly the same as driving a car for 137 miles). We are now giving our leftover fabrics a new lease of life where we can, before these materials are sent for recycling. We have been working with ten schools and colleges across Westminster to supply offcuts of fabric and other materials for use as art and craft resources.’
Mirabela Jaloba, Revival Costume Technician at the Royal Opera House, said:
‘I have a child of the same age and I know they are already somewhat aware of the problems our planet is facing. My child asks questions about recycling, reusing materials and being responsible towards nature. I told her about this project and she no longer wanted to buy single use decorations for the Coronation celebration – she’s actually making some white, red and blue flowers herself. I hope this is one of many other projects the children are taking part in that helps them develop a healthy view of the future of this planet’s natural environment.’
