Cut Your Grass, Without Gas!

How about the ALL TERRAIN version. Goats and sheep. They mow,fertilize and till the soil in one pass. The only requirement is water and grass. Goats will even trim low hanging limbs.

Or you can do it the real "green" way like I do. Use a scythe. I use a European style scythe with a 28" grass blade. I can cut an acre a day and get a good aerobic workout in the process. The only maintenance you have to do is keep the blade sharp, and the only fuel you need is breakfast.

I dont think 5 grand is "comparitively priced" to a gas mower that would cost 1200 to 2000$ 5000 for a mower that can only mow 1.5 acres a day is highway robbery. I would love to have a electric mower, but it would need to mow at least 2.5 acres and cost less than 2 grand to be a option.

Even better than electric or gas powered mowers how about no mower or just the reel push mower. My husband and I currently have 2 1/2 acres with most of it in grass. This year we are working on getting rid of the grass except for a small enough portion to cut with the a reel push mower. We are planting the rest of the yard in a garden, wildflowers, trees and bushes indigenous to our area. We are raising many from seeds and also going to sales where a local group sells these plants. Our goal is to feed ourselves, wildlife, save water (indigenous plants need less watering once established), reducing our foot print! Next on the agenda - goats and chickens!

...and I forgot to mention coal, but then I also forgot to mention mining accidents and mountaintop removal. Fracking with the nearest water supply (drinking water? Not when a multinational needs it) to release Natural Gas and pollute groundwater...

Shorten the debate to one word: PROFIT

Energy companies make a great deal of profit by keeping us dependant upon energy supplied by them (Quick; when did you last buy necessity clothing. When did you last buy an oil product?). PROFIT is business as usual instead of progress towards energy independance. Energy independance with renewables is less military overseas and less expense to the American middle class (we subsidize Nuke plants - they boil water). Renewables are a catastrophic blow to the profits of such companies as Exxon and to the suprisingly large weapons manufacturer General Electric (who for the moment, still owns the "Liberal" NBC <- notice how NBC played along with Bush and the war agenda?)

We need a government on OUR side to protect us from the new class of Robber Barons that were first dealt with by Teddy Roosevelt. Multinationals are much too powerful and they salivate over Libertarianism.

Finally, look up Enhanced Geothermal.

I like electric mowers. Like the man said "Fewer moving parts, fewer maintenance costs". If I made the billions of dollars profit that oil companies make then I suppose I too would lack the conscience to get this country off oil dependancy - and speaking of "Con Science", do oil companies remind anyone else of Tobacco Companies? If you're old enough to remember Television in the early 1970's - you remember the doctors and scientists who claimed smoking was not considered harmful (Paid for by your friendly tobacco companies who remind you to enjoy smoking).

Since we're talking mowers; Search "Fiskars Reel Mowers" for a high quality Green push mower that gets high marks from Farmshow.com. It can be purchased at Lowe's. Apparently it is very well designed. I am not affiliated with Fiskars nor Lowe's and I am merely a subscriber to Farmshow.

Oh, and check out the electric cars on YouTube - like "White Zombie Electric Car" or the Tesla, etc.

Doug, please quote your sources. If there was indeed reserves available that would last 2041 years don't you think it wouldn't be kept secret. It's utter nonsense.
There is one source which will be available for billions of years - it's called the sun.

Alright all you hippie tree hugging freaks. Got some news for you. It does reduce CO2 consumption. Coal plants operate no matter what, so they will produce that CO2 regardless, and if you are using a gasser you are adding more CO2 so not using a gas mower does indeed reduce your CO2 production. Second, there has been a new discovery of oil in the rockies and the flats of the dakota's that promises to end our dependance on foreign oil for the next 2041 years, yes that is right two thousand and forty one years. I do not like this as it is still not sustainable it will eventually run out, and still will not address the issue of CO2 emissions. So gas mowers might just be around for a long time to come:-( It would mean no more drilling in the ocean!!!!!!

Why not just use a manually powered push mower? And if you are saying it would take too long to mow your grass, then you have too much grass. It takes me the same amount of time with a push mower than it would with a gas ( or electric) lawn mower. No fumes, no excessive noise, no oil, no gas. Keep it sharp and it cut beautifully with one pass.

You put less CO-2 in the air no matter where the power comes from versus burning gasoline to run your mower. It can come from a coal plant and oil plant no matter what it is better than a gas mower. Do I need to say this again or in another way.
Second an electric mower should eventually be less expensive than a gas mower. Few precision parts in an electric mower. These mowers are using lead acid batteries not expensive lithium. So what is the deal. Let the chinese start making them and you we see them on the market for a $1.95

Be aware just because you pay extra for Green Power doesn't mean the electricity you use is Green. If your power comes from the grid there is no way for you to choose where your power comes from. If you live closer to the coal plant than the solar farm you are using coal derived electricity no matter how much the power company suckers out of you.

To say any of these models is "competitively priced with comparable petroleum-burning models" is not really true. There is a premium on the Electric models. But hopefully enough people will find it worth it for the environment to support these early models. The price will come down as volume increases.

If you use all green power, then of course it helps. Our home's electricity is 100% green energy: 50% wind derived, 25% hydro, and 25% landfill gas. We use a push reel mower and an older Neuton electric. A lot of my friends and family members also use green power, an option that many power companies provide for a minor fee (We pay about $5-8 extra a month for green power on top of our regular energy bill.) These people also happen to be the main sort of customers in the market for electric mowers...

Because over half of American electricity is generated from coal, using an electric motor instead of gas power doesn't save any co2 production- if you think that's important (it isn't)- but it does help a little with the problem of oil depletion & noise pollution. Every little bit helps.