Unless you really and truly need one, that is.
The lack of respect given to the push reel mower is a good example of how mindset affects consumer behavior. I’m referring to the type of mower with a rotating cylinder of blades that is powered by your muscles. This post is not really about saving energy. Small residential lawn mowers use very little gasoline compared to our transportation and heating uses of oil. Rather, I find choice of lawn mowers revealing about the nature of consumer choices, specifically about the American love affair with engines, noise and power (NASCAR, anyone?).
In the past week, we’ve spent some time discussing things people might be willing to do to conserve energy. Here’s a no-brainer for those with small-to-medium sized yards. Push mowers are far superior to gasoline powered mowers. Most people simply don’t consider this choice, however. Thanks to sales hype regarding the much more expensive gasoline-burning models, [1] buying a non-gasoline powered mower never ever occurs to most people. Major hardware stores relegate such mowers to the back shelf. Consumer Reports gives little attention to these wonderful machines, year after year.
I speak from experience. I’ve used a push-reel non-engine lawn mowers for 12 years. They are as easy to operate as those powerful roaring gas-powered mowers. Here are seven solid reasons to chose a no-gasoline model next time you buy a mower:
- Push-reel mowers cost only $100 brand new [2]. The mower I bought was manufactured by American Lawn Mower Company, based in Indiana. [3]
- Push reel mowers have no engine, so they create no noise pollution.
- Push reel mowers produce no air pollution. The California Air Resource Board has determined that using an un-tuned gas mower for 30 minutes emits as many pollutants as driving a car for 172 miles. Gas mowers are “the single largest unregulated source of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide emissions.”
- Modern push-reel mowers weigh only 16 to 32 pounds, half the weight of the non-powered mowers owned by your grandparents. They are precision machines, capable of slicing through tough zoysia.
- Push-reel mowers are easy to maintain. A $15 sharpening kit keeps the blades sharp forever.
- The type of cut offered by reel mowers is healthy for your lawn: the scissors-cut of a reel mower sutures the grass blade, holding in much-needed moisture and keeping out diseased organisms. There is no ripping or tearing of the grass blades. A reel mower disperses the clippings in a fine spray–not clumps–that decompose quickly.
In 1990 more than 87,000 persons with injuries caused by power mowers [4] were treated in emergency rooms. - Electric lawn mowers are not a solution to safety concerns or to noise or air pollution. Many electric mowers produce 80 db of sound, and they depend upon the pollution-causing production of electricity. The production and disposal of lawn mower batteries (for cordless units) are horrendous to the environment.
Ever since buying one, I’ve wondered why they aren’t more popular. There’s really no good reason. Just like the unnecessary packaging described by Jason [5], the choice of lawn mower is but one of many consumer choices that, in the aggregate, would make a significant beneficial impact on our environment.
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