Ideal Bite

What's better than the smell of fresh-cut grass?

07.06.2006

Submitted by idealbite on Thu, 07/06/2006 - 5:00pm.

The Bite:

The smell of fresh-cut grass without the smell of gasoline. Use a reel or electric mower, rather than a high-polluting gas-powered one, and inhale the sweet scent of grass and greenback savings.

The Benefits:

Save gas. Each weekend, 54 million Americans mow their lawns, using an estimated 800 million gallons of gas per year. More fuel is spilled while refueling lawn equipment each year than was spilled by the Exxon Valdez.
Save cash. Using an electric mower, you’ll pay about $5 per year for the electricity costs. Using a gas-powered mower, you’ll pay that much in just two mows.
Cleaner air. According to the EPA, gas-powered lawnmowers account for up to 5% of US air pollution.
Today’s reel mowers (vastly improved from your dad’s old reel mowers) are the best bet for the planet, but rechargeable electric mowers are increasingly Earth-friendly.
Bothered by noise pollution? It’s not a problem with reel mowers and electric mowers which make just a tenth of the amount of noise as gas-powered ones.

Personally Speaking:

Jen inherited a John Deere riding lawn mower from the previous owner of her house, and used it once. Now she just trims the front part of her property with a reel mower and lets the rest go au natural.

Wanna Try:

Letting grass clippings decompose is a great natural fertilizer, and keeps you from having to bother bagging and shipping the stuff to the dump. Alternatively, check with your local waste management company to see whether they’ll compost your grass for you.

Scotts Classic - reel mower with an extra-wide cutting path ($130).
Neuton Electric Mower - you can literally talk on the phone while this baby’s running ($399).
EnvirOmower Eco 500 - recommended by Aussie/UK Biters (£229).

Liz Armstrong.

Cocktail Fact

Grass is the largest irrigated “crop” in the US, covering 3 times the amount of land covered by irrigated corn.

Bang For The Bite

If 10,000 Biters mowed their lawn for an hour with a reel mower instead of gas, we’d save the amount of pollution caused by driving a car about 10 million miles.

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