Ideal Bite

LAWN CARE

Take a Nice Lawn Whiff - Garden Week

04.08.2009

Submitted by tmeronek on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 11:00pm.

The Bite:

Is there anything that smells better than fresh-cut grass? If there is, it's sure not gasoline. Opt for a reel or electric mower instead of a high-pollutin' gas-powered one, and inhale the sweet scent of grass and greenback savings.

The Benefits:

Cutting gas waste. Each year, Americans use 800 million gallons of gas to mow their lawns - and we spill more fuel while filling lawn equipment each year than the Exxon Valdez spilled in '89.
Raking in some green. Using an electric mower, you'll pay about $5 per year for electricity. With a gas-powered mower, you'll pay that much in just two mows.
Air that smells better. Gas-powered lawn mowers account for up to 5% of U.S. air pollution.
Mowing down noise pollution. Reel mowers are basically silent, and electric ones make a tenth of the noise of gas-powered ones.

Personally Speaking:

Heather's dad bought the electric Neuton mower and thinks it sounds like a buzzing bee.

Wanna Try:

Neuton CE 6.2 Mower - you can literally talk on the phone while this powerful electric's running ($489).
Sunlawn LMM-40 Mower - relatively inexpensive, easy-does-it reel mower that cuts way better than Grandpa's version ($160).
Hustler Zeon - for Biters with football fields for yards: an electric riding mower that can turn on a dime; available later this year (about $6,500).
Prairie Nursery No Mow Lawn Mix - non-GMO grass seed mix for low-growing grasses, so you never need to mow ($6/pound).
DIY Bite: Let your grass clippings decompose on your lawn for a great natural fertilizer. Alternatively, check with your local waste management company to see if it'll compost your grass for you.

Cocktail Fact

Grass is the largest irrigated "crop" in the United States, covering three times the amount of land used to grow corn.

Bang For The Bite

If 10,000 Biters spend an hour mowing their lawn with a reel mower instead of a gas-powered one, we'll avert the pollution caused by driving a car about 10 million miles. Yep, million.

20 comments

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Rachael on April 08, 2009 at 03:24 AM 1

Hello, We bought a Neutron mower a few years back and absolutely love it! We will never buy another brand. The battery is fab and a real improvement over electric mowers with cords. Also, the Neutron customer service is second to none. Before we bought it, they mailed us a video which was really helpful in our decision to buy it. So, just wanted to comment and let anyone with any doubt out there that Neutrons are wonderful mowers and great value for money!

Micaela Salatino on April 08, 2009 at 03:40 AM 2

Hi! I love Ideal bite and have spread it throughout my friends and family. Just a suggestion for the next time you have "Garden Week", suggest to biters to change their grass lawn for a California garden or a rock garden...this will save the world tremendous amounts of water!! Thx for taking the time to read my comment! Micky:)

Aaron on April 08, 2009 at 04:09 AM 3

Here we are half way through garden week and all we are getting are tips on how to manicure the lawn. What about preparing the soil for spring plantings? Turning the earth and working in compost in the vegetable patch?

Jennifer on April 08, 2009 at 04:11 AM 4

I have owned a reel mower for a few years and absolutely LOVE it! I don't have a big yard and I felt that there was no reason to purchase a big gas guzzling lawnmower for such a small lawn. I love the fact that I can get out there at any time of day and mow the lawn (and sometimes it's 7 am in the summer!) Plus, putting a little sweat equity in my yard just makes me that much prouder of the work that I do in the yard.

agbs on April 08, 2009 at 04:44 AM 5

Returning to reel mowers is a great idea. But people, WHERE DO YOU THINK MOST ELECTRICITY COMES FROM?! Gross polluting coal fired power plants that are grandfathered into very lax and antiquated emission laws...like none!! And, the high powered transmission lines are planned to grow taller and more numerous and take much more valuable farmland to meet the demands of electric cars and lawn mowers because local municipalities' zoning ordinances are overridden by federal predilections of legislators who are lobbied to the hilt by the owners of the coal-fired polluting power plants and the coal interests.

esther on April 08, 2009 at 05:23 AM 6

YEARS ago my husband asked for an electric chainsaw as a present. It ROCKS. Not only is it quieter, it's much lighter and easier to handle. We also have an electric "weed eater." The lighter weight means you can work with it much longer without straining your back and shoulders. Just don't forget your safety glasses! It's so much fun to use you'll send shrapnel flying all over the place.

Margery on April 08, 2009 at 05:24 AM 7

Great information but I need soem help with grasses and guidance for South Flroida where I live. Could you give a great connect for a site for this information as the one listed in the article was for northern states. I am ordering a new law mower ......

Susan on April 08, 2009 at 05:29 AM 8

Do you have statistics available to compare the footprint of the electric mower to that of the gas mower?

Michelle on April 08, 2009 at 05:53 AM 9

BTW, I LOVE the new layout/design!

Ann Lamb on April 08, 2009 at 06:13 AM 10

Recommended mower height for warmer climates like TN is 3", which no reel mower yet seen can accommodate (pls inform?), although we use ours when it's too hot or cold for the cool-season grasses to grow much anyway. Gardens Alive! has a Turf Alive III low-growing grass seed that works for this humid climate.

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Take a Nice Lawn Whiff - Garden Week

Cocktail Fact

Bang For The Bite

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