Living Green

New mowers cut grass and pollution

Mowing lawns is not, conventionally, an environmentally friendly activity.

One hour of tending the lawn with a gas-powered mower produces as much pollution as driving your car for four hours, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

But a few companies in Austin, Texas, are now trying to make quick lawn mowing the next frontier in the green movement.

With solar panels mounted to their trucks to recharge their electric equipment, they are reducing smog one blade of grass at a time. They buy wind energy to offset carbon emissions (when the electric equipment needs to be plugged in to a conventional socket, coal is being burned), and some power their vehicles with biodiesel.

"It does sound a little hokey, but our mission as an organization is to change how America mows its lawn," said Shawn Gaide, manager of the Austin office of Clean Air Lawn Care. The company, based in Colorado, opened for business here about five months ago.

Then there's Clean Green Lawn Care, with the slogan "We Mow Your Grass Without Gas."

The Austin company typically charges more than conventional lawn-care companies; its rates start at $40.

"Some people say, 'I can get my yard done for $25.' But our machinery is very quiet, and if they don't have to inhale the purple smoke, they like that," said Matt Gatewood, co-owner of the company, which has been in business nearly four months.

Electrical lawn mowers are "not widespread, certainly not in the professional ranks," said James McNew, a spokesman with Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, a group that lobbies for manufacturers of lawn equipment.

"There's no professional-grade electric product on the market," McNew said. "Most electric products are geared toward small lot-sized homeowners."

BioGardener, an Austin lawn care service run by Jeremy Walther, uses electrical and propane-powered equipment. BioGardener has contracts with Austin Energy to do landscaping at five of its facilities as part of a city effort to reduce air emissions citywide. The company also has about 40 residential customers.

"If we had 90 percent of lawn care companies in Austin using alternative fuels, even 50 percent, I think you'd start to see some measurable improvements in Austin's air quality," Walther said.

The best thing Texans interested in cleaning up their air can do is use lawn mowers whose only fuel is sweat, according to the Texas environmental commission, which endorses the old-fashioned push mower.

"An unpowered push mower operates pollution free, allows you to mow quietly in the cool of the early morning and gives you some exercise all at the same time," according to the agency's Web site.

Push mowers are available at Eco-Wise, in South Austin, for about $140 each, said Amy Holland, who co-owns the store.

And there's always sheep. "They do natural fertilization as well," Holland said.