By Laura Roach

Residents of Portsmouth can expect a change to the scenery of downtown in the coming months. Due to the initiative and hard work of the members of Portsmouth Zero Waste, the rusty trash bins in downtown may soon be accompanied by recycling receptacles at artistically designed waste stations. Zero Waste is a grassroots organization and partnership of the Islington Creek Neighborhood Association, EcoMovement and Tim Gaudreau Studios. The organization will be starting the first public recycling program in Portsmouth. Tim Gaudreau, local artist and environmental advocate, is teaming up with the Portsmouth school system to design the waste stations.

Zero Waste began when Tim Gaudreau met Karina Quintans, a self-employed consult, a year ago and they discussed their common concerns. The mission of Zero Waste is to drastically reduce the amount of waste being dumped into the Turnkey landfill through recycling and eventually compost. Last year the Portsmouth Department of Public Works collected 5,259 tons of waste which is equivalent to roughly a quarter ton per resident. Public recycling in downtown is just the first step being tackled by Zero Waste to cut waste to zero.

Tim Gaudreau of Tim Gaudreau Studios is a self-declared eco-artist and photographer. He is known for pieces like “Self Portrait as Revealed by Trash” for which he took a picture of every article of trash he threw away for a year and “Give Plastic the Boot,” a giant sculpture of a boot he constructed out of over 3,000 recycled plastic bottles. His business is a member of the Green Alliance, a green business co-op which rates firms on their sustainability practices. Gaudreau is also a very active member of the community and has collaborated with schools in the past to make works of art.

Now he is working with local students to once again create art for the community. The waste stations that will soon be coming to downtown will be decorated by ceramic tiles painted by Portsmouth students. With the help of Gaudreau, they will establish themes for each station and then work together to express those themes through their individual tiles. “We are hoping to reach out to families and instill pride in students,” said Gaudreau.

The city of Portsmouth has been very enthusiastic about the public recycling initiative but getting permission to execute the plan has been a long process. Gaudreau has gone on rounds with a trash collector to get a better idea of how the waste stations could work and he has had meetings at local schools. Next week he will be presenting a waste station prototype to the city for final approval. After the official “go-ahead,” Zero Waste will just need to scrape together the funds. They are expecting some money from the city and from the schools but they are mostly relying on grants, public donations and fundraising.

Thanks to Zero Waste, visitors to downtown Portsmouth will soon be able to publically recycle for the first time ever and the landscape will reflect student creativity. “We recognized an opportunity to take it beyond sustainability and to create a space for artwork,” said Tim Gaudreau, explaining the ideals behind the initiative.