SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
There's something green roaming Yellowknife. It's mission? To clean up city streets.
Since July 6, city staff have volunteered lunch hours every other Thursday donning green T-shirts as part of the city's Green Team, and descending upon busy streets to pick up litter.
"Put your money where your mouth is, right?" said senior administrative officer Sheila Bassi-Kellett. "We can't be sitting there as administration and going, 'Oh gee I wish people would do something about this pesky litter.'"
She said 10 to 15 volunteers have shown up each week, each stuffing a bag's worth of litter.
Andrey Balasanyan is a summer student working with the city and one of the volunteers. He lived in Yellowknife for 15 years before heading to the University of Calgary to study electrical engineering.
"It feels very good picking up trash and making everything look nice," he said. "The streets of Yellowknife, I really strongly believe that they should be cleaned."
The city does have paid staff cleaning up, but Bassi-Kellett said the volunteers focus on the extra-busy spots that need a bit more attention, like the 50/50 lot.
"Hopefully if we're out there and really visible then that may be a disincentive for other people who were going to litter," she said. "If they see us, they may think, 'Oh you know I may go that extra few feet to the garbage can.'"
She also added it's a great way for city staff to
interact with the community.
"When you're hanging out in that area, people will gravitate to you," she said. "And that was a really cool part of it that I didn't expect."
The Green Team is one of several initiatives offered this summer by the city, including the Green Clean kits, available for free as part of Yellowknife's Adopt-A-Street program containing garbage bags, gloves and bag tags. The kits were made available on July 13 and in the first week, six were picked up from city hall, the Fieldhouse and Ruth Inch Memorial Pool.
"We all can play a role in sending the message that we can all pick it up," said Bassi- Kellett. "You and I both know that springtime is not a pretty time in Yellowknife."
The city is also offering local businesses the chance to order receptacles at cost to stamp out another city scourge: cigarette butts.
"As an ex smoker, I see a cigarette butt now and I feel rage," said Bassi-Kellett.
The receptacles can be ordered through the city for $250 until Aug. 13.
Bassi-Kellett said the city intends to keep up the program until September, adding so far, it's been a success.
"Oh man, the bags we collected ... it was formidable," she said. "I didn't think there would actually be that much."
Balasanyan agrees.
"I actually see improvements every week," he said, explaining there are fewer cigarette butts or litter in areas each week he's done the program.
"So what we're doing is actually working."
