Eco Friendly Grass Cutting

With summer just around the corner and all of this rain we are getting now I know before long I will have to be cutting my grass. Surprisingly, there are many aspects to grass cutting that can contribute to an eco friendly lifestyle. I knew before that gas power lawn mowers emitted pollution but I had no idea how adverse they could be. According to EPA statistics gas powered lawn mowers contribute as much as 5% of America’s air pollution! The pollution emitted by the average gas lawn mower is equal to that of 43 cars! A problem to is that until 1995 there were no laws in place concerning lawn mower pollution. Here is what you can do. First if you have an older mower(pre 1995) consider upgrading. When purchasing a new mower you should definitely consider other options besides gas power, as even new gas mowers are big pollutants. One option is electric. I know in the past I always hated the idea of electric mowers because I was afraid of running over the cord. This problem has been corrected though in that new electric mowers are actually cordless. If you really want to be eco friendly though consider getting a push mower! The biggest fear I feel people have against push mowers is that they don’t do a good job. I can assure though that this is not the case! I used a push mower when I was a little kid before I could be trusted with a more dangerous gas mower and let me tell you there is no difference in the quality of the cut. I’m going to switch back to using my old push mower this summer. It is important that you keep your blades sharp for good quality and that will be the first thing that I do.
The type of mower you use isn’t where the eco friendly lifestyle ends though. Cutting grass obviously produces a lot of grass clippings that are perfect for the compost. When racking up your lawn don’t be to obsessive about getting all the clippings as any left behind will compost on the spot providing your lawn with a nice natural fertilizer.
For more scary statistics on gas power lawn mowers check out the EPA’s website
Also this site provides a lot of information about the latest push mowers and other gas power alternatives.
http://www.peoplepoweredmachines.com/faq-environment.htm