Lawn Mower Pollution

I used to mow, edge and trim with electric tools which generated much less pollution - based on the theory that a big power plant is much more efficient than a lawn mower engine. I would spend about 2-3 hours a week on it.

Now I hire a service. They use a large self propelled gas mower and gas tools, and finish the job in 10 minutes. I'm not sure how the pollution numbers add up with the service, but at least I've got my Sundays free again.

bhankiii I'm too cheap to pay for this service. By the way Landhis and Staefa offers a service to customers such as school districts proposing energy savings and one of the ways they achieve lower energy costs is the use of larger zero turn mowers. Electric mowers not efficient with larger lawns and taller grass. Besides I would cut the cord.

"but at least I've got my Sundays free again." -Priceless!

Sorry no fishing for you. The lush lawn itself should be sufficient to gulp up the amount of CO2 generated on it's behalve.

or

Get yourselves a garden service and an exercise machine to replace the exercise you are missing out on.

What will the total CO2 output be?

Yes.

That is why I have one of these

No cord, fully charged in less then a day, and the charge lasts long enough to cut any city lot even if the lawn is wet.

Here is my basic philosophy on lawn care:

http://www.richsoil.com/lawn-care.jsp

Do scrool down to the section on chemical fertilizers. The organic ones recommended are so much better!

I have about an acre to mow. My gas push-mower goes through about 5 gallons a year, so how much is that to the many hundreds I go through a year in the car?

Go fishing, the grass will be there when you get back.

Good link. I do most of this already.

The only point I would add, is to use a good mulching mower, instead of just leaving the grass clippings. After about 2 to 3 years of mulching, the need for fertilizer is decreased if not eliminated.

Of course, the mower's exhaust emissions and the fertilizer are just the tip of the iceberg. Add the methane produced by the decomposition of the clippings (methane is a stronger "greenhouse gas" than CO2) and the water used in keeping the grass green (increased by the use of fertilizer), and your total damage is much worse. Just replace the whole mess with rock and be done with it once and for all.

Here's an interesting article weighing the benefits of a fake turf lawn vs a traditional live grass one.

http://www.slate.com/id/2191200/

Some interesting facts from the article:

• the average American lawn gulps down 21,600 gallons of water per year
• an hour's worth of mowing resulted in the same amount of smog-forming emissions as driving a car 93 miles
• American homeowners use about 3 million metric tons of synthetic lawn fertilizer per year

on the plus side:

• United States is covered with roughly 40 million acres of tended lawns. Assuming all clippings are bagged and tossed in the trash, those lawns can soak up about 13.2 million pounds of carbon dioxide per year

"Assuming all clippings are bagged and tossed in the trash, those lawns can soak up about 13.2 million pounds of carbon dioxide per year."

and then "They just live happily ever after, do not get decomposed into anything?"

That Carbon will continue to cycle... "Tossed in The Trash" is not really a chemical "End State."

milo

Well right, and the article goes on to say that composting your clippings can triple your lawn's effectiveness as a carbon sink.

And if you're concerned about the emissions from your lawnmower you can always get one of those reel push mowers. We had an ancient one growing up and mowing our 2+ acre lawn with it was my father's punishment for us.

How about the development of a short grass that did not require being mowed?

From the Hi-tech red neck: Buy a goat, they are more hardy than sheep , they give milk and wool , the lawn will not get over a few inches tall, and your lawn will be fertilized by the most organic stuff you can get. Electric mower $450, Gas mower+ gas $800, Nubian goat $125, knowing you yard work is on auto pilot while you hunt and fish... that is priceless.

Word of caution: they will eat what they can reach so there wont be much hedge trimming either

I suggest getting a cow or goat to cut the grass would produce more pollution than you lawnmower.