Upcycle Champion: Tony de Goldi

This month we’re putting the spotlight on Tony de Goldi, Theater Designer and upcycle hero. Often creating, making and crafting from the Hopper workshop, you might have seen Tony and some of his work around the Hopper Shop. We would love to share a bit about this cool creative, and what he has inspired him on his zero-waste journey.

What inspired you to be creative with resources Tony? "As kids we were alway making things in the garage. Our neighbourhood in Greymouth backed on to the bush and the local kids would build huts from Ponga ferns. I always liked making stuff with my dad and that's where it all started. I was given a set of chisels for Christmas when I was 13 and taught myself woodcarving." This launched Tony in the start of his career, working for a furniture company and as a handy man in London. After returning to New Zealand in the 80's, he completed a Design degree, majoring in Interior Design. It was here that he became involved in theatre design, and Tony has been designing sets, costumes and props ever since. He also taught Design at university for 20 years and always encouraged students to minimise waste, and to design for long-term use.

Wherever possible Tony uses recycled and used materials. "As a Theatre designer I am very conscious of waste and have always recycled set material whenever possible to avoid single use, which can be prevalent in parts of the profession. It's not difficult to reuse and remake, the major hindrance is usually where to store materials. My roof space is a packed with crates of stuff that will eventually be reused in shows that I have yet to design."

The props are not only made from recycled materials, they are also reused. "I have costume and prop elements that have gone into multiple shows. I have just designed and built a theater show called "Seasons", produced by Capital E National Children's Theatre. The show has 40 puppets and a touring set, of which many were from the original show that was first performed 20 years ago. I used a lot of second hand materials that I had collected over the past couple of years. The show is touring the country and over 14000 children have gone to see it. After the tour the show will be stored and usually be remounted every 4 to 5 years."

Tony has helped design parts of Hopper for over 2 years, initially starting out with some small building projects and then bigger projects like the cafe space and the accessibility toilet. He also designed and built the outside planter boxes from the building's old garage doors, the Christmas tree using old cable reels and wire, and our Christmas advent calendar you'll see on display every December. The recycled timber soap dishes you can buy in the shop are also designed and made by Tony on-site, and if you buy our Christmas crackers, he has helped design and make some of the surprises in there.

Tony’s zero-waste tips:

Don't buy everything new and avoid buying things in packaging if possible.

Compost Compost Compost.

Make your own lunch and use wax wraps.

Don't buy water in bottles or coffee in disposable cups.

Take things you don't need to opshops.