IT’S GETTING BETTER… ELECTRIC LAWN MOWERS
GOOD NEWS. We humans are not great at working – WITH – natural systems, but we – ARE – getting better.
ELECTRIC LAWNMOWERS are a great example.
A true confession… I enjoy cutting my lawn.
There are two reasons.
One… we have a pretty substantial population of Timber Rattlesnakes where we live in rural northwest Alabama and shorter grass makes ANY critter near our house much easier to see before I step on it.
I consider this a good thing.
Second… my father looked at cutting grass as a bit of a meditation. I inherited this from him. The back-and-forth pattern isn’t at all boring to me. It’s easy. It’s structured. My mind wanders off to strange and wonderful places while I cut. It makes sense… like I said… it’s kind of a meditation for me… and the grass near my home (I only cut a small section that’s very close to home) looks nice when I’m done. It’s a win-win. I feel good and the yard looks good too.
Now let’s talk electric lawnmowers.
We humans have slowly come to learn that burning fuel (fossil fuels) that took millions of years to make, not only creates a great deal of pollution but it also uses a fuel that will never be replaced. The atmospheric conditions that made coal and oil possible were exact and they won’t ever be happening again… also… it would take millions of years… even – IF – these conditions were reproduced.
Trying to find low or no-pollution energy alternatives is smart.
My personal lawn mower is made by GREENWORKS PRO. It’s electric. It’s charged by a battery… actually three. I leave two on charge as I cut. The small one lasts about 20 minutes. The larger one lasts about 30. This – of course – depends on outdoor temperatures and the height of the grass (as they say “results may vary”.
I’ve cut grass for 50 years.
The first job I ever had was cutting my neighbor’s lawns in suburban Montgomery, Alabama.
I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to have an internal combustion engine that WON’T START. This is not a problem with the electric mower. There’s no pull cord. You literally press a button and it starts right up. Yeah… it starts every time. Nice Huh?
And there’s another bonus. It’s a lot quieter than a gas lawnmower. It’s NOT totally silent, but it’s much quieter. As you cut you are not making any pollution.
How the electricity was made that comes to your house can be a pollution issue, but the Lords of the Electrical Grid are moving us in cleaner and greener directions, so this will only get better.
I’ve recently seen chainsaws, trimmers, and more outdoor maintenance tools that are rechargeable batteries (electricity driven).
This is a very good step.
Oh yeah… what about the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries? Are they a heavy metal? Are they pollution?
Yes… but ONLY if you throw them in the trash.
There are so many ways to recycle batteries today that there’s simply no excuse for pitching – ANY – battery in the trash where it potentially can pollute groundwater. These batteries can be recycled and made – BACK – into new batteries.
So… we are making progress working WITH the planet’s systems. For so long we were not. We were only concerned with “taking and making” and not too concerned about the waste or pollution we were making for the planet’s systems to deal with.
We’ve turned that corner… and are making amends.
Electric lawnmowers are a good step.
Here’s the lawnmower site I use…
https://www.greenworkstools.com
Allowing your lawn to stay natural is probably the BEST way (the lowest impact) to treat the environment. You might even consider allowing natural wildflowers to grow there, but if that’s not a good option for you (it’s not for me), try an electric lawnmower.
The future looks bright…
by Steve Trash – Rockin’ Eco Hero
