Bottle deposit money from summer shows helps pay for kids' theater visits
This summer, five Estonian theaters have set up portable charity bottle deposit bins at their summer show venues. The deposit money from collected bottles and cans will support the charity "I Help Children," which helps low-income kids in Estonia attend the theater.
Mariann Hendrikson and Mart Maide, master's students in product design at the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA), designed the lightweight, easily portable bins with transparent sides.
Each bin holds 300–400 bottles and cans, with tick marks along the sides showing how many theater tickets' worth of bottles have been collected. One full bin can buy theater tickets for at least four kids.
The first portable bottle deposit bins were placed at Aparaaditehas in Tartu, where the Estonian Drama Theater is staging a summer production of Mehis Pihla's "Business as Usual," and at the granary at Loobu Manor in Kadrina, hosting Rakvere Theater's summer production of "Departure."
"We bounced ideas off each other, considering both more angular and more rounded designs, and ultimately landed on a happy medium by softening the sharp corners a bit," Maidre said.
"The bottle bag itself dictated a lot since it has a set size," Hendrikson explained. "We didn't buy a new bag; we used the one used by [Eesti Pandipakend], took its measurements and started thinking about how to build a bin around it. Then one key requirement came up — portability. So we designed a bin with removable walls that can be packed into a car and driven to the next venue after a show."
Founded in 2011, "I Help Children" is one of Estonia's largest charitable organizations, helping provide children with memorable cultural experiences, including by sending low-income kids to the theater and bringing theater performances to kids, including in kindergartens and hospitals.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Aili Vahtla
