Love plays but hate plastic waste? Here's how Edinburgh theatres are helping

Festival Theatre and the King's have vowed to ditch plastic wine cups, embrace the bees and switch to ethical wine in a bid to be anoost environmentally friendly initiatives.

A swally while settled in your seat at curtain up is one of the pure pleasures of an evening at the theatre.

And although Capital Theatres' agree, they have committed to switching the current single-use plastic cups for a greener alternative - a deposit scheme with reusable cups.

From September, for a £1 deposit per cup theatre goers can choose to claim their cash back at the end of the show, or donate the money which will be used for future green initiatives at the theatres. which will be refunded when the cup is returned to our bars. If cups are not returned, we will then use that £1 for future green initiatives.

Capital Theatres' mission to help the bee population.

Niall Dewar, Deputy Head of Front of House and Customer Services, said: "We take our responsibility to the environment seriously, and we’re doing what we can to make a positive difference. Our thanks to our customers who are helping us every step of the way towards a greener future."

And as well as a new house wine Sea Change, which is a range of ethically sourced, environmentally conscious wines that support ocean conservation through direct partnerships with key ocean and marine focused charities, there are steps to support the declining bee population.

The packaging of Sea Change is designed to be environmentally friendly with labels that are made from 15 per cent grape waste with the remaining materials sourced from FSC-certified forests, the corks are fully recyclable, and no capsule covers are used. Plus, 25p from every bottle sold is donated to various marine charities.

"It’s a well-known fact that one-third of the UK’s bee population has disappeared over the past decade and we’re playing a small part in addressing the declining population by working with experienced beekeepers Plan Bee to host a beehive on the Festival Theatre rooftop.

The new house wine Sea Change supports green initiatives.

"Our roof-top beehive has been doing so well in the last few years that we have added a second hive!"

Small changes have also been made to reduce the carbon footprint at the Festival Theatre such as sensor taps and hand driers in the toilets - proven to reduce water and paper usage.