What about Gasoline-Powered Lawn Equipment?
In my last post, I took on the unquestioned acceptance of green-grass lawns as the ideal for urban and suburban America. I advocated replacing lawns with native plants and pointed out the latter’s advantages for fighting climate change and promoting biodiversity.
But what if you’re not quite ready to tear out your traditional lawn? There are some things you can do to reduce the associated hydrocarbon emissions associated with lawn maintenance. Specifically, you can get rid of your power equipment that uses two-stroke engines which run on a mixture of gasoline and oil. These include lawn mowers, leaf blowers, chain saws, and hedge trimmers. Electric alternatives are now available which have power equal to that of the old two-stroke engines. John Deere has even introduced an electric riding mower.
My electric chain saw and hedge trimmer have power cords which require me to drag around a 50-foot extension cord to run them. You can now get battery-operated models which eliminate the need for a cumbersome power cord but they are more expensive and heavier. The downside is having to change the rechargeable batteries about every half hour so you’ll need to have several on hand for bigger jobs.
You may be thinking the same thing I was before looking into this issue: The gasoline engines that power lawn equipment are much smaller than those in highway vehicles. So why is running a leaf-blower for a ½ hour any more than a tiny problem compared to the climate changing impacts of the emissions which motor vehicles spew out every minute along the nation’s streets and highways? The problem is the nature of the lightweight but very inefficient two-stroke engine. For example, leaf blowers emit 23 times more carbon monoxide and nearly 300 times more non-methane hydrocarbons than a typical car with a catalytic converter. Multiply that by the thousands of people who operate two-cycle engines every day to maintain both residential and commercial lawns and you wind up with a huge source of greenhouse gas emissions.
States and municipalities have started to take notice. California has passed a state-wide ban on the new gasoline-powered lawn equipment which kicks in at the start of 2024. More than 100 cities and towns have banned leaf blowers that run on gasoline.
This electric leaf blower/mulcher costs about $100 and is highly rated by Good Housekeeping. It requires an electrical extension cord. The cordless/battery models they recommend cost more. See https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/gardening/a28368915/best-leaf-vacuums/
And speaking of leaf blowers: Why do we need to get rid of all those leaves every autumn? Some people may consider leaf litter unsightly but it provides nutrients for soil and winter habitat for pollinating insects. Rather than blowing leaves into piles for transport to the local landfill, a better option is using a relatively quiet electric leaf mulcher which shreds leaves making it easier for them to be incorporated into the soil.
According to the EPA, gasoline-powered lawn equipment accounts for 4 to 5 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. We now have the electric technology to eliminate this pollution source. I invite you to be part of the solution!
Hey, Will
ReplyDeleteI love my electric mower – no gasoline, no oil changes, no winter maintenance. And it is a lot lighter and quieter than the gasoline alternative. Having said that however, beginning next spring we won’t have a lawn to mow anymore.
Jack
Greenwood Village, Colorado
Oh yeah, and no more yanking on a cord to start it.
ReplyDeleteJack
We sold our gas chain saw and weed wacker and replaced them with Ryobi battery operated ones. Much less hassle and mess. And our local electric company even offers rebates for such moves
ReplyDeleteCurt
Hi Will,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your argument on the greenhouse emissions and noise pollution.
A year or two, I tried to get my HOA to consider electric alternatives to how our greenbelt is managed. Every week after our lawn service uses it's large ICE lawn mowers to cut the grass, they use substantial resources to blow off the sidewalks with another gas-powered leaf-blower.
When I asked if they would consider requiring electric equipment, the board quickly shut me down saying it would cost an extra $1,000 per mowing. That's more than $4,000 per month in season for a 550-home community. I never know when they are making the figures up, though, since I have caught them in statements beyond the truth previously.
Tom
Tom, see the snide comments in my previous post about stubborn old shits that often dominate HOA boards and stand in the way of using native plants for landscaping. If they are correct about the extra costs of mowing with electrical equipment, I can understand their reluctance to switch. However, I would question why a community needs a "greenbelt" that has to be mowed once a week. If it were converted to native plants, it would save most of those mowing costs and a helluva lot of watering expense!
DeleteI did see that article you wrote on HOAs. I don't think our HOA is currently capable of making a switch from grass to native plants. After I helped wrestle the leadership away from the retired people who want everyone in the HOA to have their values and live just like them, the newer, younger board directors complained they work full-time and don't more than a minimal amount of time to oversee the HOA. That sounds great compared to the previous autocracy, but they don't even see to it that we are getting the services that our dues pay for -- except those routine services that involve the polluting engines.
DeleteWill, could you clarify this statement: "leaf blowers emit 23 times more carbon monoxide and nearly 300 times more non-methane hydrocarbons than a typical car with a catalytic converter."
ReplyDeleteWhen you say 23 or 300 times is that based on minutes using a leaf blower versus minutes driving a car? Or is it a measurement different than minutes? Thanks.
Tom, I realize these numbers are shocking. They are comparison of grams per minute emitted by an Ford F-150 pick up truck and a Echo 2-stroke leaf blower. The studies were conducted in 2011 by Edmunds, the American online resource company known for car reviews based on testing and for automotive pricing and inventory. See https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/features/emissions-test-car-vs-truck-vs-leaf-blower.html
DeleteSmall though it may seem, the small engine options do represent environmental heracy. With 33 acres of rural property to manage for fuels reduction (CA), I’m moving toward the batteryoptions. A,it’s is my choice, and they support chainsaw, polesaw, weed eaters, leaf blowers ( better than raking around porches, foundations, barns, etc, as a ‘polish up’ after the mowing and raking. Nothing stops flames except bare mineral soil). Quieter than their gas powered counterparts, and some are lighter and more wieldable as well. When my old Husquevarnas finally throw a rod,, I’ll replace them with Makita 36v . Most of the wood I cut is less than a foot dia. Anything big enough to need splitting stays on the landscape to rot. Aka slow CO2release.
ReplyDeleteFor my tiny lawn I have a tiny and cheap electric mower!
ReplyDelete