Environmental concerns have been around longer than many people think. Three years even before the foundation of Greenpeace in 1971, a children’s TV series about the ‘Wombles’ – a community of furry creatures living in London’s Wimbledon Common, who collected and recycled rubbish – was busy inspiring a new generation. And in case the viewers didn’t get the point, their motto was ‘Make Good Use of Bad Rubbish’.
Over 40 years later, and the children of the Copenhagen International School in Hellerup are taking a leaf out of the ‘Wombling Guide to Foraging’ and presenting a fashion show with a difference. On April 14, from 16:00-18:00, the school will host a “high-end fashion show” of pieces made by children, aged five to 18, which are quite literally rubbish.
Old milk tops, wine corks, juice cartons, photographs, newspaper and even bicycle tyres are just a few of the items that have been used to transform everyday waste into “wearable works of art”. The two-hour event will include a runway show, live music, and light snacks and drinks. Tickets cost 50 kroner and it is recommended you purchased them in advance.
All the proceeds will be donated to Roots & Shoots, a worldwide initiative in which tens of thousands of young people in more than 120 countries network with each other to make a difference – to people, to animals and to the environment – and on a local level, to identify problems in their communities and take action. However, despite its worldwide popularity, CIS is the first organisation in Denmark to get involved with Roots & Shoots.
“Roots creep underground everywhere and make a firm foundation,” explained the environmentalist and humanitarian Dr Jane Goodall in material supplied by CIS. “Shoots seem very weak, but to reach the light, they can break open brick walls. Imagine that the brick walls are all the problems we have inflicted on our planet. Hundreds of thousands of roots and shoots, hundreds of thousands of young people around the world, can break through these walls. We CAN change the world.”
