It is still late morning here, and I can already hear various lawn mowers puttering away in the yards of my neighbors. Unfortunately, mowers contribute five percent of air pollution, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. About fifty-four million Americans mow their lawns each weekend.
Fortunately, we aren’t one of that number, at least not yet. We live pretty much in the woods and don’t have a grassy space. Once our landscaping is done, we do plan on having a grassy yard for at least a portion of the yard. And, we will be looking in to eco-friendly options for mowing. Believe it or not, even the small engines of a lawn mower emit a huge amount of carbon monoxide and plenty of chemicals. One hour of mowing is roughly equivalent to driving in a car for 100 miles, in terms of pollution to the environment.
Promoting low-growing ground cover is one way of reducing the amount of grass that needs to be mowed. We do have sweeping patches of Pachysandra growing on our property to give it some green.
But what if you really do want grass? Do you have to mow less frequently and live with a jungle in your yard? Not only is that unsightly, but it could be a breeding ground for ticks and fleas, as well as small rodents.
The best thing to do is to trade in that old gas -powered mower for a new one that will have less of an impact on the environment. You can look into community-based programs that will buy back your old mower so you can get cash toward a new eco-friendly mower, or use your old mower as a trade-in toward a new one.
Coming up later, I’ll share the four options in eco-friendly lawn mowers. Be sure to check back later.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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