Cut It Out

Every week, the EPA “Greenversations” blog posts a question for general discussion, and this week’s is on a matter close to home, or right outside your door, as it were: lawnmowers.

The Greenversations bloggers didn’t explain why exactly they posed the question “Why do you use a gasoline, electric, battery-operated, or push lawn mower?” but personal decisions about lawn grooming implements are connected to matters of climate and energy. National gas prices are currently about $3.75 per gallon, which means that filling up even the small tank on a push mower doesn’t cost what it used to. Gas mowers unfortunately also emit a large amount of pollutants.

As the Center for American Progress pointed out recently when they revealed “The Secret to a Greener Lawn,” push mowers emit as much pollution each hours as 11 cars, while riding mowers are even worse, spewing the equivalent of 34 cars worth. CAP’s recommendations? Electric mowers, manual mowers, alternative turf combinations, and leaving clippings instead of vacuuming them up are all simple solutions to limit emissions from gas mowers.

Estimates indicate that Americans use 800 gallons of gas a year mowing lawns, which, at 20 pounds of CO2 per gallon, produces about 8 million tons of the greenhouse gas. Moving from inefficient combustion engines to renewable sources of weed-whacking power is one small thing that individuals can do to combat climate change, and it also puts a diversity of technologies in the hands of Americans.

Tags: Climate Change

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