A cordless Black & Decker lawn mower being used on a lawn in New Paltz, N.Y. Batteries on cordless models last 30 to 60 minutes, so they work best for smaller lawns. (Lee Reich/AP/FILE)
EarthTalk: Greener ways to cut the grass
Electric mowers – corded and battery-operated – get good marks for smaller lawns, but they’re not cheap.
By THE EDITORS OF E MAGAZINE| June 12, 2008 edition
Q: What’s available now in lawn mowers that are easier on the environment? My yard is too big for one of those “reel” mowers, and I’m no longer a spring chicken, so I have to buy something that runs on more than human power. What’s out there?
– Joel Klein, Albany, N.Y.
A: According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average homeowner’s gas-powered lawn mower pumps out as much pollution per hour as 11 automobiles do.
So what’s a green-minded property owner to do about keeping the grass down? Go electric!
Electric mowers, which either plug into an outlet via a long cord or run on rechargeable batteries, create no exhaust emissions when in operation and run much cleaner than their gas-powered counterparts. They also need less maintenance, with no spark plugs or belts to worry about and are easier to use, as they tend to be smaller and come with push-button starters.
The icing on the cake might be the fact that electric mowers are cheaper to run, using about as much electricity as an ordinary toaster. Most electric mower owners spend about $5 a year on electricity to keep their grass trimmed. The nonprofit Electric Power Research Institute reports that replacing half of the 1.3 million or so gas mowers in the US with electric models would be like taking 2 million cars off the road, in terms of emissions.
Going electric has some trade-offs. Electric mowers tend to cost up to $150 more than their gas-powered counterparts, and the plug-in varieties can only go 100 feet from the closest outlet without an extension cord. Cordless models last only 30 to 60 minutes on a charge, depending on battery size and type, though that’s sufficient for the average lawn (just remember to recharge it in time for the next mow).
And, of course, just because electric mowers don’t consume fossil fuels or spew emissions directly doesn’t mean they are totally green-friendly. Most household electricity comes from coal-fired power plants, the dirtiest of all energy sources. Running an electric mower on electricity generated from clean and renewable sources (solar, wind, or hydro power) would be the greenest of all.
For those ready to take the electric mower plunge, the Greener Choices website, a project of Consumer Reports, gives high marks to Black & Decker’s corded ($230) and cordless ($400) models for their efficiency, reliability, and ease of use. Corded models from Worx and Homelite (both around $200) also fared well, along with cordless offerings from Craftsman, Homelite, Remington and Neuton ($300-$450).
Got an environmental question? Write: EarthTalk, c/o E – The Environmental Magazine, Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881. Or: earthtalk@emagazine.com
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Comments
3. alex. | 06.12.08
make the electric mower with a easily swappable battery, and I’ll buy one. They new ones all seem to have fancy covers and hidden batteries.
4. josh milken | 06.13.08
People definitely need to switch to push reel or electric mowers. One good thing from the increase in oil is that people need to cut back on things like lawn mowers and driving hummers. For those looking fo reel mowers, check out http://www.lawnmowersworld.com
5. Don Hun | 06.18.08
My Gasoline mower uses about 3 gal of fuel per year to mow my yard. If gasoline was $5.00 per gallon it would take 15 years to recoup the extra $150.00 cost. I doubt that an electric or battery powered mower would last 15 years so finacially it doesn’t make sense to run out and by a new electric mower. Also how long do the batteries in a battery powered mower las and what environmental hazards are hidden in the disposal of those batteries?
Too bad it is just easier to slap on a sticker claiming to be enviromentally friendly on the surface rather than having to prove that a product is truely reducing the enviromental footprint for its complete lifecycle.
6. Ray | 10.05.08
So Don, according to your “logic” you should buy a pair of scissors for $2.50 and you would be ahead 30+ years (plus gas costs) over a $300 gas mower. Also, which part of green do you not understand? Burning gas is burning gas, there is no math there if you are burning gas you are not green.
Too bad people don’t understand what environment freindly is! If you are so up tight about figuring out how much you will save in dollars, buy a reel mower, you are the engine (no gas burnt) and mine is at least 30 years old (tlak about lifecycle). Also, no one slapped a sticker on it claiming to be environmentlly friendly (it just is and you don’t need a sticker to know it).
I also have a 24 volt Craftsman battery powered mower that I use which I bought second hand about 11 years ago. I just had to replace the batteries for the first time this year.
Bottom line… Green is what you make of it. If you are hung up on figuring out how much it will cost you, your not being green. The point is to work on improving the environment, not save money.
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1. bulgarian solicitor | 06.12.08
but not CO2, just incomplete-burned gases and so on … IMHO this is just a ‘decoy’ from EPA to avoid looking at the real problems with global warming and CO2 emissions …