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Village Notices


Household Chemical Waste
Drop-off at LR Fire Dept Station 51
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Village-Wide Watering Ban
During the period of May 15 through September 15, watering is permitted from 5 pm until 10 am only.

Residents living in even-addressed homes may water on even numbered days of the month and odd-addressed homes on odd numbered days of the month.

Village Now Accepting Household Fluorescent Lamps
By Pete Adrian, Recycling Coordinator SWALCO

In partnership with SWALCO (Solid Waste Agency of Lake County), the Village of Riverwoods is now collecting household CFLs (compact fluorescent light bulbs) and other fluorescent lamps (up to 4 feet in length) from Village residents.

Broken lamps will not be accepted.

Drop off at:
Riverwoods Village Hall
300 Portwine Rd.
Monday to Friday 9:00am-1:00pm

Residential Associations
Stay in the Loop
The Village is once again seeking to update its list of Riverwoods homeowner associations so that it can keep them informed regarding issues that might have an impact on their neighborhoods. Make sure that we have your most up-to-date information. Send along your association's name, address, phone number and e-mail, as well as a contact name (President)—to Cheryl at 847-945-3990 or e-mail chadley@riverwoods-il.net. You can also fax the list to 847-945-4059.

Find Help in Lake County
Connect with Lake County services 24 hours a day, seven days a week at www.FindHelpLakeCounty.org. Find and access health and human services using this free, web-based, searchable database right now! Help be a link by passing www.FindHelpLakeCounty.org to your neighbors, co-workers, friends and others.

West Nile Virus
West Nile virus is contracted from the bite of a mosquito infected with the virus. While most people infected with WNV have no symptoms of illness, some may become ill with headache, high fever, muscle weakness and sometimes a skin rash. These symptoms usually appear three to 15 days after the bite of an infected mosquito. The virus may occasionally cause serious complications. Click here for a PDF of entire article.

Information about WNV can be found by calling the Health Department's West Nile Virus hotline at: 847-377-8300 or on the Department's Web site at: www.co.lake.il.us/health/ehs/westnile.asp or call 847-377-8300 if you have any questions or concerns about the West Nile Virus or dead birds. The Village of Riverwoods does NOT pick up dead birds and the Lake County Health Department only picks up certain types and numbers of birds. Any birds not picked up should be thrown out with your regular trash pick-up.

Illinois Tollway
Click here for up-to-date information about highway projects in Illinois.

SWALCO Household Chemical Waste Collections will Accept Unused Medications from Residents
The Solid Waste Agency of Lake County, IL (SWALCO) will begin their Household Chemical Waste (HCW) collection program in March to help residents dispose of their chemical wastes safely and conveniently. Old prescription medications as well as unused over-the-counter medications are accepted at all HCW collections. Latex paint is no longer accepted at HCW collections. These free events are open to Illinois residents ONLY.

Scientists have recently discovered everything from pain killers to anti-depressants to antibiotics in our water supply. These drugs can harm the wildlife that rely on our rivers and lakes, as well as kill the beneficial bacteria in our septic systems. Therefore, please do NOT flush away old and unused medications in your sink or toilet.

To help residents dispose of Latex paint, SWALCO provides bags of crushed corn cobs at various locations around Lake County. Crushed corn cobs are very absorbent, and can dry out a can of paint in as little as 30 minutes. After equal parts of paint and crushed corn cobs are mixed together and allowed to dry, the cans of paint can be disposed of with the rest of the resident’s trash.

There will be collections in other parts of the county throughout the year. Residents can call the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County at (847) 336-9340 or check the agency's website for further information about the HCW collection events and the availability of crushed corn cobs for Latex paint disposal.

SWALCO facilitates Compost Bin sales
The Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO) is making compost bins available to county residents through a variety of sales dates and locations this year. Residents can choose from two different compost bins: the "Earth Machine" stationary model ($20) and the "Tumbler" model ($70).

The Earth Machine rests in a typical backyard and accepts food scraps, grass clippings, leaves and other organic wastes while waiting to be manually stirred by its owner. The Tumbler is a barrel-shaped container that rotates around a metal stand when gently pushed. Both models are easy to operate and come with a 10-year warranty. The main difference lies in the amount of time it takes to generate usable compost - 3 weeks for the Tumbler versus 6-8 weeks for the Earth Machine.

The Earth Machine composters are 33" tall, 33" in diameter and will hold approximately 1 cubic yard of material while the Tumbler model is 44" tall, 22" in diameter and will hold just over 7 cubic feet of material. They are adequately sized to accommodate organic food waste from a typical family.

Composting at home requires a mix of materials high in nitrogen (such as grass clippings and leaves) and materials high in carbon (such as vegetable and fruit peelings). Each composter comes with an educational booklet that describes the process of getting started and producing high quality compost.

For more information check out the SWALCO website or contact the SWALCO office at (847) 336-9340.

Fluorescent Lamp FAQ's

What's in a fluorescent lamp and why should I recycle them? Fluorescent lamps contain a very small amount of liquid and evaporated mercury sealed within the glass tubing. A single four foot fluorescent tube contains from 5 to 50 milligrams of mercury. CFL's contain an average of 4 milligrams - about the amount that would cover the tip of a ballpoint pen. By comparison, older thermometers contain about 500 milligrams of mercury - an amount equal to the mercury in 125 CFLs. Mercury is an essential part of a fluorescent lamp; it allows the bulb to be an efficient light source. No mercury is released when the bulbs are intact (not broken) or in use. Mercury vapors are released when a lamp breaks. Mercury is toxic to the human central nervous system. Each year, an estimated 600 million fluorescent lamps are disposed of in U.S. landfills amounting to 30,000 pounds of mercury waste. Recycling of the lamp components is the recommended method of disposal by the Environmental Protection Agency and helps to minimize exposure to mercury, greatly reduce the mercury dilemma and create a much safer environment.

What happens to the fluorescent lamps that you drop off at the Village? The lamps are transported to SWALCO where they are then transferred to a US EPA regulated facility to be processed. The lamps are recycled in machines designed to safely break down the lamp and then separate the glass, metal, and mercury. Once the glass is clean of the mercury it can be reused as well as the metal and mercury.

What should I do if I break a fluorescent lamp in my home? Guidance on proper methods of handling broken fluorescent lamps is available from the US EPA and from many state agencies and local health and environmental authorities. The EPA guidelines can be found at http://www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/index.htm. Small numbers of broken lamps typically do not present a hazard to human health or the environment, provided the area is adequately ventilated and proper cleanup procedures are used.

Residents can pay bills, request records via Internet

Riverwoods residents can pay their water bills and parking tickets online beginning August 15 thanks to the Illinois State Treasurer's Office.

To pay online, residents should log onto www.illinoisepay.com, type "Village of Riverwoods" into the search box and follow the prompts.

The Village of Riverwoods joins the Lake County Treasurer's Office, which already provides the E-Pay service to his constituents.

"Riverwoods residents can pay their bills on their own timetable without leaving the comfort of home," said State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. "We are working to spread this convenience to all counties and government agencies across the state."

E-Pay is designed for local governments and state agencies to offer constituents easier, faster payment choices.

Village of Riverwoods Accounting Administrator Suzy Crohn is grateful for the E-Pay program provided by the State Treasurer's Office.

"The citizens of Riverwoods can benefit from this program," Crohn said. "E-Pay is great especially when citizens of Riverwoods are out of town and their bills need to be paid. Constituents can still make their payments on time."