Dorothy Westerman
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 12/05) - A committee of anti-litterers wants you to feed Yellowknife's ravens and bears: the ones on the classic cement trash bins adorned with images of animals, or those with airplanes and the "Yk" symbol.

The question of how to solve Yellowknife's ongoing litter problem is being tossed at residents in the form of a city survey.

The Get Yk Clean committee survey asks the public to identify problem areas and to share their thoughts on how best to solve the litter problem.

Brian Latham, a member of the committee, said the survey - found on the city of Yellowknife website - is meant to help brainstorm ideas and to educate the public about the negative image that litter bestows on a region.

"We want to know what we can do to fight litter in the city," Latham said."The purpose is to reduce the impact of litter within the city and make Yellowknife a more attractive place to live and visit."

Brian Kelln, programs manager in community services at the city, said the survey should identify the shortfalls and identify a proactive approach to put the littering habit in the dumpster.

"We're hoping to get people's thoughts on where the trouble areas are in the city," Kelln said. Once the recommendations are compiled, they will be brought to council.

"Council will then see what is feasible or they will develop a plan," he said. "We're hoping they will then apply some resources to it."

Latham said the key factor is to educate the public that littering costs money and is expensive to pick up.

"It's much cheaper for people not to litter."

Educating the public about littering also includes raising awareness that littering is an offence, he added.

Compounding the problem of street littering is the situation of having improperly-covered trucks carrying debris to the landfill site.

Litter being relatively light, in any kind of breeze the trucks lose materials along the way, he noted.

Catching the truck-driving litterer is very difficult, Latham concedes.

"You have to be right there. And there are priorities (for police). If you had a choice between stopping people running through red lights and littering, what would it be?" Latham said of challenges the city encounters when keeping litter at bay.

Keeping garbage cans in strategic locations and ensuring they are clean are two ways to stop littering, he said.

"And one of the hardest things to pick up is a cigarette butt," he noted of the need to keep cigarette butt holders near building entrances.

Latham wants businesses to take some responsibility and pride in Yellowknife.

"We need to get a momentum going that it is good business and good PR for offices to have bins and take care of them."

Once recommendations are gathered through the survey, Latham said they will be presented to council. "But we need to use the combined intelligence of the community to look at the problems of littering."