Lighten Up

Muscle mow your lawn

Could your power lawn mower be more polluting than your car? Apparently so. According to the California Air Resources Board, gallon for gallon, the 2006 lawn mower engines contribute 93 times more smog-forming emissions than 2006 cars. Mowing for an hour with a gasoline- powered lawn mower can produce as much air pollution as a 350-mile drive in a car. Imagine, along with the pleasant smells of fresh cut grass, you're taking in nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons by the nose fulls.

What to do? Simple, manufacturers can add a golf-ball-size catalytic converter to their mowers, the same sort of device cars have had since the '70s to remove smog-forming chemicals and carbon monoxide from the exhaust. But as if in a time warp, the leading mower maker, Briggs & Stratton, is balking, and turning America's backyards into a political battle ground. The company is fighting a new California rule scheduled to take effect next year that would tighten emission requirements for small engines and would almost certainly obligate them to add the converter to all their mowers.

If and when sanity prevails, cleaner motorized mowers may take the place of their dirtier cousins. You could let the grass grow in the meantime, or consider this alternative which emits nothing other than clippings and burns calories too: push a lightweight reel mower ($114.95, planetnatural.com).

And if you're inclined, let Briggs and Stratton know their smog-makers don't belong in your backyard (Phone: 414-259-5333).

© The Green Guide, 2008

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