UIS partners with CWLP to keep Lake Springfield clean by deploying new cigarette butt voting bins

The University of Illinois Springfield Field Station at Lake Springfield has partnered with Springfield’s public utility City Water, Light, and Power (CWLP) to test the effectiveness of new “this or that” cigarette butt voting bins to curb litter near Lake Springfield.

The bright yellow bins were purchased and installed by CWLP and are stationed in three locations around the lake, Marine Point, the Lindsay Boat Launch and the boat launch just east of Spaulding Dam.

The bins encourage cigarette smokers to properly dispose of their litter by using discarded butts to cast their vote to several questions, such as “which team is better cubs or cards,” “would you rather be fishing or hiking” and “do you call it soda or pop?” After the bins fill up, the cigarette butts are collected and properly recycled.

“These ballot bins have been used around the world,” said Anne-Marie Hanson, UIS associate professor of environmental studies. “The company that produces the bins claims that studies have found the bins have reduced cigarette butt litter by 46 percent. Most of the bins have been deployed in cities on high traffic sidewalks and common areas for smoke breaks, so we are interested to see our results around the lake.”

So far, the UIS researchers have been encouraged by the results of the Lake Springfield study. Twenty-four hours after the bins were deployed they already had several cigarette butts disposed of in the voting bins.

“Cigarette butts continue to be the single most collected item in beach clean-ups and litter surveys, from central Illinois waterways to city streets to ocean coastlines,” said Hanson. “In addition to leaching harmful toxins into the environment and being mistakenly consumed by fish and birds, cigarette butts are primarily made of plastic (all those fibers in the filter are plastic).”

The UIS researchers hope the bins bring more attention to cigarette butts and remind people that they are litter and harmful to wildlife, fish and local waterways.

“Cigarette butts have become such an everyday part of the landscape, that in many situations they are not seen as litter and are assumed to be less harmful than other types of litter,” said Tom Rothfus, director of UIS field stations. “This is a very different strategy than the typical anti-litter sign, and we hope it will get people talking about cigarette butt litter in a new way.”

Rothfus says the bins will stay in place for the immediate future, but may be moved around to different locations as the UIS researchers learn more about where they are successful and where they are not.

“If there is success, the number of bins will likely be increased. We are also interested in potentially working with the City of Springfield to deploy these bins in other areas,” said Rothfus.

For more information on the project, contact Anne-Marie Hanson at 217-206-8162 or ahans4@uis.edu or Tom Rothfus at 217-206-7418 or troth3@uis.edu.

UIS professor relocates endangered osprey birds to Illinois

Tih-Fen Ting, associate professor of environmental studies at the University of Illinois Springfield, translocated 12 six-week-old ospreys, an endangered fish eating bird of prey, from Virginia to Illinois thanks to the help of the Illinois Audubon Society. The society contributed $3,000 to transport the birds by plane in collaboration with the aviation program at Southern Illinois University.

The birds were flown into the Decatur Airport on July 7, 2016, and were processed and tagged the following day at the Illinois Raptor Center in Decatur. Later in the day, the birds were released at two sites, one near Lake Shelbyville and the other near Canton, along the Illinois River.



“Biological diversity is important to the long-term well-being of human health and communities,” said Ting. “Efforts to recover threatened or endangered species, such as ospreys in Illinois, are necessary to keep biodiversity strong so that future generations can benefit from these wonderful creatures.”

Establishing a self-sustaining breeding population of ospreys in Illinois is one of the goals of a multi-year U.S. Fish and Wildlife grant awarded to Ting through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). The objective is to re-establish ospreys in Illinois where they are listed as endangered.

“We’re happy to help with this important project. This gift, I believe, will make our members proud, plus have potential to educate many more people regarding our effort to bring back this tremendous bird of prey,” said Tom Clay, executive director of Illinois Audubon Society.

Since 2013, Ting and a group of UIS students and research personnel, in collaboration with IDNR, have helped to successfully translocate and fledge 24 young ospreys from the Chesapeake Bay area. The researchers have been feeding, observing, and tending to the translocated osprey chicks at Anderson Lake, near Havana, and at Lake Shelbyville. A third site called Banner Marsh, near Canton, was added this year.

Although ospreys have a wide range of distribution in North America, the birds rarely breed in Illinois and are considered vulnerable to climate change. According to the National Audubon Society’s climate model, by 2080 ospreys are projected to lose 79 percent of their current summer range, particularly in coastal areas.

“Through translocating young birds, we can help with ospreys’ range expansion into inland lakes or rivers in Illinois,” said Ting.

For more information, contact Tih-Fen Ting, UIS associate professor of environmental studies, at 217/206-7876 or tting1@uis.edu.

UIS students, faculty assist with osprey chicks

The youngest of the five osprey chicks was the most vocal when Dr. Tih-Fen Ting and University of Illinois Springfield graduate student April Simnor approached their nesting structure to remove the ospreys' food pan. Being the youngest of five hasn't kept the bird from eating when it has the chance, unlike two of other birds that stood in the back of the structure, backs turned toward the visitors.

Dr. Ting and her students are feeding, observing, and tending to the five osprey chicks in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The groups are trying to re-establish ospreys, a fish eating bird of prey, in Illinois, where they are listed as endangered. As adults, ospreys usually return to nest in the area where they were raised. The hope is that these chicks will do just that. The birds are being kept at Anderson Lake, near Havana, Illinois.

Early each morning, the students remove any remaining fish from the birds' nesting area and weigh it to determine how much was eaten overnight. They provide more food to the chicks, then hunker down on an embankment a distance from the nesting box in order to observe the birds and to confirm each of them is eating. The students spend much of their day watching the chicks and writing notes. They will continue caring for the chicks until they are ready for release. Prior to release, the birds will be fitted with tracking devices.