Let me start out by saying that there are some good eco-friendly options. My advice is to not overwhelm yourself. If you can’t or don’t want to eliminate all your gas-powered equipment at once, choose one tool. Replacing one piece of equipment is a great first step.
Traditional gas-powered landscaping equipment makes up 5% of our earth’s pollution. The EPA tells us that if as few as 1,000 lawn mowers were replaced by eco-friendly models, it would eliminate about 9.8 tons of harmful VOC (which is dangerous to our health with long-term effects).
Living in Ridgefield, with most of us having a significant amount of property, this poses a problem. We want to be eco-friendly, but we don’t know how to start eliminating these harmful tools. Here are some ideas to think about, so that when you are ready, you can transition into using eco-friendly equipment.
Reel mower — obviously the greenest choice. This may not be an option if you have a large lawn.
Solar-charged/battery-powered mower — a good choice, providing two hours of energy with no gas.
Cordless rechargeable battery-operated mower — a great choice, using no gas. You can even find cordless rechargeable battery-operated ride-on mowers!
Propane-powered mower — an excellent choice, because propane is nontoxic and not harmful to your health or the environment. Propane cuts the greenhouse emissions in half and reduces carcinogens and toxins.
Extra tip: Consider a mower with mulching power. This disposes of the clippings by turning them into fertilizer for your lawn!
Also consider solar/green-powered blowers, electric blowers, propane-powered blowers, electric chain saws, rechargeable battery-operated chain saws — which are lighter and less noisy as a bonus, propane trimmers, and rechargeable battery-operated trimmers.
Extra tip: If you use landscaping companies to do your yard work, why not look for a company that is eco-friendly. For example, go to Mowgreen.us, a company that is totally eco-friendly!
See you all next week, and remember, it’s fun and easy to be green!
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