We need a lawn mower. We don't have one, and we have grass to mow this year. I have learned a few things about lawn mowers recently. The main thing being that mowing your lawn for 1 hour produces the same carbon emissions as driving your car 500km. Actually, I can hardly believe this. But, my husband, who has much more knowledge in this area says that it makes sense to him - so sure - Lawn mowers are HUGELY inefficient. The other problem is that we have no money - so buying a new fancy solar-powered green lawnmower is kind of out of the question.So, what is a girl to do?
1 - don't mow the lawn - (not sure this is an option...)
2 - buy a used gas mower and pretend I don' t know the facts (don't like this option)
3 - buy a "reel" mower - (they still cost at least $100 - not sure if we can do that right now)
4 - don't do anything and pretend there is no dilemna (currently what I am doing, and will only work for another couple weeks...)
What would you do?
Supposedly the sales of "Reel Mowers" are on the rise...
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9 comments:
We just traded in our gas mower for a cordless one (in PG) and asked the man at Home Depot where the old ones go, (ours still worked we just have the luxury this year to buy a cordless) He said they take most to Habitat for Humanity for resale and they figure to take over 200 of them in trades. Maybe you can find a good deal there! Good Luck, A
hi breanne. i found your blog on blotanical. I have had a reel mower for about 10 years and I like it very much. it's a great option for a small space like my city front and back yard. aside from the initial expense, i have only ever spent a few extra bucks on it to have the blades sharpened. i've slowly been reclaiming lawn space as garden space over the years and hope to eliminate any need for a mower in about five years time.
how about borrowing a mower from a neighbours? my neighbours let their lawn get so bad last year I actually decided to mow it for them. that approach might not win you too many fans though ;)
irena
have you looked on craigslist and/or freecycle? i've seen people giving away reel mowers on both. i doubt they are new but a free one would be nice to test drive and use until you can save the money for the fancy solar powered one.
If it's any help...not all lawn mowers are two stroke now--many are four-stroke, which don't make as much noise, emissions, etc. The Suzuki info is five years old, and it would be nice if someone did some sort of quantitative analysis on newer models, both push and ride-on, for those with larger areas. Of course, with the price of fuel approaching that of gold, who WANTS to have grass to mow, anyway? My course of action is to gradually take back more and more of the grass and turn it into garden....;-)
so the info I have is old? I had seen that quote in numerous places that I sort of assumed its validity. I am curious about the emissions of newer more efficient engines..
We bought a reel mower last year from Canadian Tire and have been very happy with it. Much nicer to use than a noisy gas powered one, but you do have to keep up with the mowing a bit more often. If the grass gets too long it's hard to use. It's also a little more of a workout, which people could view as a good thing, or a bad thing :)
so we're still undecided - sort of - we have found someone who will sell us their old, polluting gas-guzzling mower for $20 - so we will have something - but I think I really want to convince my husband to buy a "reel" mower. It's funny - I don't think I've EVER seen one used here in town - we are an industry town that is about 10 years behind on the green movement than most places - we don't even have curbside recycling - or anywhere to recycle plastic...aghhh... but I wont get started on that...
We went with a reel mower. You might find one on craigslist, also. I just feel better using it. And yes, let the grass get really long and it's quite a workout. Good luck.
Get a Goat!!!!
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