Green Living

Ah, the Saturday morning buzz of a brigade of lawn mowers.  They’re tough, they’re loud and they’re spewing black smoke into what would be an otherwise blue-skied, lush weekend.

Gas-powered lawn mowers are notoriously loud and smoky, for their users and passerby.  But there’s good news.  If you’re a Southern California homeowner who hasn’t yet gone native in your backyard, you may be able to get an electric, non-spewing mower at the Air Quality Management District’s annual spring Lawn Mower Exchange for only a hundred bucks.

Here’s how it works.  Registration begins on March 18^th online or by phone.  Once you’re registered, you can sign up for one of many events around the AQMD’s four-county district.  Then, you go to the exchange event, toting your current gas-guzzling mower, hand over a hundy, and exchange it for a cordless, electric, rechargeable Neuton that will go and go for an hour on one charge. Simple.

Electric mowers are quiet and eliminate buying, accidentally spilling and burning gasoline. You’ll get a workout and feel better knowing that your old mower is being scrapped and recycled instead of fulfilling its former role of polluting the same amount as 43 cars driven around for a year would.

If you prefer to go the push mower route on your own, no charging up required, check out these models from Clean Air Gardening.

And, if you want to go the distance and grasscycle too – that’s the process of leaving clippings on your lawn to nourish it, thus eliminating the need for heavy fertilizers read all about it here.

AQMD Lawn Mower ExchangeRegistration begins March 18, 2008

(888) 425-6247

http://www.aqmd.gov/tao/lawnmower.html