YELLOWKNIFE - For the past three weeks people have been meeting at Javaroma to grab a garbage bag and clean up Yellowknife, one parking lot at a time.

The initiative was spearheaded by Javaroma owner Adrian Bell and city councillor Paul Falvo.

Adrian Bell, taking part in the litter clean-up initiative he helped start, shows off some of the garbage he found in trash-strewn parking lots. - Cara Loverock/ NNSL photo

Falvo said there has been a consistent turnout in past weeks, with around a dozen people pitching in.

"Somebody's got to do it," said Falvo of tackling the litter problem. "People have got to accept we're all in this together.

"I'm not pretending it's the end of the garbage problem in Yellowknife, but at least it's a start."

Javaroma had plastic gloves, garbage bags and clear bags for recyclables available. The recyclables are picked up by Northern Tykes daycare, which cashes them in for the deposit. Participants were also handed a voucher for a free Javaroma beverage.

The program ran weekly for the month of May and will become a monthly tradition.

The third cleanup last Wednesday was in the Tree of Peace and CIBC parking lots. Many Yellowknifers came out to lend a hand, including Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins and his young son.

Rajiv Rawat moved to Yellowknife from Toronto recently and took part in the project.

"I think it's everyone's civic duty," he said. "It reflects the civic sense Yellowknife is trying to build."

Elise Maltin was also taking part and said she appreciated that someone decided to take the lead on and start a program to deal with the litter-strewn streets.

"I think lots of people want to do something," she said.

Bell sifted through pieces of trash in the CIBC parking lot and quickly filled a green garbage bag.

"I'm not sure whose garbage this is but you can't sit around waiting for someone to be responsible," he said.

"We'd just like to encourage everyone to come out and clean up the city. We've done a lot of work downtown, but there's a whole lot of garbage outside of downtown."

Falvo said he would like to see more enforcement of bylaws that target litter, such as the Unsightly Premises bylaw, which he said isn't specific to garbage, but does include it. He said cleaning up streets and residential areas is a high priority for city hall and said many initiatives, such as the annual spring clean-up grants, give more people motivation.

"We just haven't been on top of it," said Falvo of the clean-up program.