One university in Central Illinois is teaming up with a city to make sure people are keeping the earth clean.
The University of Illinois Springfield is working with CWLP in Springfield to put up bins where people can safely discard their cigarette butts. They are located near Lake Springfield.
The two-sided bins have questions on each side letting you cast your vote while cutting down pollution.
“A lot of people see cigarette butts as something semi-natural. Thinking that it’s made out of tobacco products and stuff but actually there is a lot of plastic in it. It’s almost 75 percent plastic and so there’s a lot of toxins that can get into the waterways,” said Anne-Marie Hanson, UIS associate professor of environmental studies.
They plan to leave the voting bins up indefinitely.
This story appeared on WCIA on May 12, 2020.
Watch the entire story online.
Showing posts with label Lake Springfield. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lake Springfield. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
UIS students clean up litter at Springfield Lake Marina
You might think the ocean is littered with garbage, but small waterways are too.
Environmental students from the University of Illinois Springfield picked up litter from the Springfield Lake Marina Tuesday.
Not only are they cleaning garbage from the lake, but researching just how much Illinois water is polluted.
"We've moved past the element of surprise and now we're just trying to see what steps we can do to encourage the community to clean up litter and prevent it from getting here in the first place," Ann-Marie Hanson, an environmental studies professor, said.
The students will now sort all the garbage they find, count it and weigh it.
This story aired on Fox 55 News on April 23, 2019.
Watch the story online.
Environmental students from the University of Illinois Springfield picked up litter from the Springfield Lake Marina Tuesday.
Not only are they cleaning garbage from the lake, but researching just how much Illinois water is polluted.
"We've moved past the element of surprise and now we're just trying to see what steps we can do to encourage the community to clean up litter and prevent it from getting here in the first place," Ann-Marie Hanson, an environmental studies professor, said.
The students will now sort all the garbage they find, count it and weigh it.
This story aired on Fox 55 News on April 23, 2019.
Watch the story online.
Monday, May 7, 2018
Lake Springfield trash pick-up can improve drinking water
Saturday, the Lake Shore Improvement Association spent the morning picking up around Lake Springfield.
It's their annual clean-up day, but they say it means more than just beautifying the area. It's a place for fun and fishing, but there's a problem with Lake Springfield. "There's always debris,” said John Aiello, Lake Shore Improvement Association Clean-Up Day Chairman.
Dozens joined the Association's to pick up trash through the morning.
Anne-Marie Hanson of the University of Illinois Springfield was there to help. "Trying to get an idea of the plastic pollution and overall marine litter in central Illinois water ways,” said Hanson.
Hanson came with Tom Rothfus to help in the clean-up, learn about pollutants, and raise awareness. Rothfus is the Director to the Therkildsen Field Station. "A lot of these things, the plastics in particular, just don't go away,” said Rothfus. “They continue to break down they get smaller and smaller and find ways to cause problems with filtration systems, getting into drinking water other issues like that, and so we really need to make people aware that what they're doing every day is having an impact of how they're living their life later on."
They specialize in environmental studies and work to connect UIS with lake concerns. “We're finding chunks of plastic in there and I don't think people realize how big of an impact this has,” said Rothfus. “And how it can trickle up the system and affect us."
Volunteers picked up garbage to prevent it from getting in the lake.
This story aired on Fox 55 Illinois on May 5, 2018.
Watch the story online.
It's their annual clean-up day, but they say it means more than just beautifying the area. It's a place for fun and fishing, but there's a problem with Lake Springfield. "There's always debris,” said John Aiello, Lake Shore Improvement Association Clean-Up Day Chairman.
Dozens joined the Association's to pick up trash through the morning.
Anne-Marie Hanson of the University of Illinois Springfield was there to help. "Trying to get an idea of the plastic pollution and overall marine litter in central Illinois water ways,” said Hanson.
Hanson came with Tom Rothfus to help in the clean-up, learn about pollutants, and raise awareness. Rothfus is the Director to the Therkildsen Field Station. "A lot of these things, the plastics in particular, just don't go away,” said Rothfus. “They continue to break down they get smaller and smaller and find ways to cause problems with filtration systems, getting into drinking water other issues like that, and so we really need to make people aware that what they're doing every day is having an impact of how they're living their life later on."
They specialize in environmental studies and work to connect UIS with lake concerns. “We're finding chunks of plastic in there and I don't think people realize how big of an impact this has,” said Rothfus. “And how it can trickle up the system and affect us."
Volunteers picked up garbage to prevent it from getting in the lake.
This story aired on Fox 55 Illinois on May 5, 2018.
Watch the story online.
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