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Annual Gas Mower Exchange
by JANE BOGNER
SUNDAY, March 20, 2005

So there is a club for everything. Searching the web, I came across the Old Lawnmower Club which said that the lawn mower was invented in 1830 by Edwin Beard Budding, an engineer from Stroud, Gloucestershire, England. He saw a machine at a local cloth mill with a bladed reel removing fuzz from woven fabric to make a smooth finish. He set out to make a portable machine to trim grass lawns in the same way.

He formed a partnership with engineer John Ferrabee to build the first mowers. These cast iron mowers featured a large rear roller with a cutting cylinder in the front. Cast iron gear wheels transmitted power from the rear roller to the cutting cylinder. Overall, these machines were similar to modern mowers.

Motorized mowers appeared in the 1890s with lightweight gasoline or steam powered engines. Although steam mowers were initially the preferred machines, by 1900 gasoline mowers were winning in the market. The period immediately after WWI saw an unprecedented growth in lawn mower production. Technology had advanced and companies needed to find new markets for peacetime products. Fortunately, people were also moving into new suburban housing with small gardens and needed the new mowers.

Now in the 21st century, we are evaluating the environmental effects of lawns and what it takes to keep them up. According to Mark Clayton of The Christian Science Monitor, two million acres of residential property are added in the United States each year which totals out at about 30 million acres of green lawns in our country. The U.S. EPA reports that the average lawn drinks about 10,000 gallons of water over and above rainfall. In some cities two-thirds of available fresh water goes on lawns. Seventy million pounds of pesticide get used on home gardens each year along with other man-made fertilizers and herbicides that pollute groundwater and kill beneficial worms and insects.

Things are slowly changing and people are turning to more organic and sustainable lawn care. Even golf courses are going green. The Presidio golf course in San Francisco is using "compost tea" and now boasts that they use 98 percent less pesticides than private Bay Area golf courses.

Now back to the lawn mowers. Some 54 million people mow their lawns each week in the summer using 800 million gallons of gas each year. More than 5 percent of urban air pollution comes from gas-powered lawn mowers and other gardening machines.

Air quality is aggressively monitored here in the Bay Area and surrounding counties. Air Quality Management Districts fund the 1 800 EXHAUST program where people can report smoking vehicles and busses on our highways. They also fund and promote trading in old gas-powered mowers for electric ones.

Exchange Gas Mowers for Electric Mowers

The 2005 Exchange program was put on hold when Black and Decker could not guarantee the number of electric mowers needed. A company call Neuton (www.myneuton.com) came to the rescue. This year, instead of getting up early in the morning, loading your old mower in your car, and lining up before dawn to get a chance at a new mower, there will be a random drawing of registered participants. Solano County residents must register on April 27 from 11 am - 1 pm to be eligible for the May 7 event. Register online at www.smud.org. or call 1-888-742-7683.

The Neuton Mower (Model #CEMXX45) sells for $379, but your final cost will be $200 when you exchange your gas powered mower. It comes with a bag and rechargeable battery. Lucky participants will be assigned a pickup time on May 7 at Cal State University in Sacramento. For more information call 800 287-3650 or go to www.smud.org. 

Vallejo Earth Day, April 23, 2005. People interested in setting up a booth or volunteering to help at Vallejo’s Earth Day celebration can register on-line at www.VALCORErecycling.org or by calling 55-EARTH. The event will take place at Vallejo’s Farmers Market. New sponsors, groups, classes and individuals are invited to participate.

VALCORE Recycling Vice President Jane Bogner's "A Sorted Affair" is published every other week in the Times-Herald, Community Outlook Section. For recycling information call Genie Kaggerud, VALCORE Recycling manager at 645-8258 or visit www.VALCORErecycling.org.

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