Zero Waste Portsmouth Trash & Recycling Stations City of Portsmouth, NH, 2011

Zero Waste Portsmouth Trash & Recycling Stations City of Portsmouth, NH, 2011

Project Description

I worked with the City of Portsmouth to initiate a new downtown recycling campaign where there was previously no public recycling. Working with local school children to make handmade, carved and painted ceramic tiles, we created five art recycle stations now located downtown. Each bin has a local theme.

I was initially approached by the grassroots community group, Zero Waste Portsmouth, to create a project to address Portsmouth’s low recycling rates. I elected to design a project that could engage a cross section of the community in a collaborative art project that also served as a pragmatic approach to raising recycling consciousness. After the lengthy process of negotiating with various city departments for approval, adapting to fit municipal requirements, we secured the a new recycle route that included these public recycle stations in the downtown area.

We worked with local students from 4th, 5th, 7th and high school grades to create a mural designs for each recycle station. Students worked together to sculpt and paint the tiles while all bin fabrication and firing took place in the studio.

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