Gone are the days when buying an environmentally-friendly lawn mower meant a trip to the local hardware store to pick out an old-fashioned reel-type mower. From cords to cordless, and from reel to robotic, today's carbon conscious lawnscapers have lots of eco-friendly choices.
There are two basic types of lawn mowers considered environmentally friendly. These lawn mowers are either man-powered or electric self-propelled and come in either reel or rotary style. They are considered environmentally friendly because they are quiet, more energy efficient, and contribute less small-particle pollution and green house gases than lawn mowers with gas-powered engines.
Manual-powered: With no electricity costs, no on-site emissions, and lowest on the price scale, these lawn mowers are considered the most eco-friendly option available. Powered by you, reel push mowers use blades on a revolving cylinder to cut grass. As the mower is pushed forward, the cylinder spins and the rotating blades shear the grass. Most of these mowers can be adjusted to various cutting heights.
Self-propelled: This is a relatively new option in the world of reel-type mowers. These reel mowers use the same type of revolving cylinder and cutting action to shear grass, but they are powered by a rechargeable battery that usually stays charged for 60 to 75 minutes at a time, which is suitable for a small to medium-sized lawn (7,000 to 8,000 sq. ft).
Corded: Electric, self-propelled lawn mowers come in two basic styles, corded, or cordless. The corded models work well for small-sized yards where handling the cord (or running out of cord) is not a concern. Having an outdoor outlet with a constant power supply is ideal for these types of lawn mowers. These mowers are slightly lighter than their rechargeable counterparts which house batteries. Keep in mind that more voltage also means more weight.
Cordless: This type of electric self-propelled lawn mower comes with a rechargeable battery. Depending on the voltage, battery life tends to last from 1 to 1 ' hours (less when mowing steep slopes) and is well suited to lawns under 10,000 sq. ft. These mowers are lightweight and virtually maintenance-free. Depending on the model and options, they run in price similar to regular, push-style gas-powered lawn mowers.
These funny little rechargeable electric (or solar hybrid) lawnmowers mow the lawn on their own. Perimeter wires (much like an electric dog fence) serve as a guide for the mower, which crisscrosses back and forth across your lawn while you (and your neighbors) sit back and enjoy the show, or guide the mower with a remote control. Quiet and lightweight, these mowers are designed to back away from any obstacles they encounter and the blades don't send debris flying like other lawn mowers.
About The Author: Ellen Brown is an environmental writer and photographer and the owner of Sustainable Media, an environmental media company that specializes in helping businesses and organizations promote eco-friendly products and services. Contact her on the web at http://www.sustainable-media.com
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While a self propelled mower sounds great, you'll have to go over the grass three times to cut it. Not fun!
We've had an electric mower for about 20 years, and we love it. Gas powered ones are so smelly and hard to start. Ours is corded, but we might have to get a rechargeable, since we've moved to a place that has a larger lawn.
You can get Manual mowers for pretty cheap but you need to hunt its amazing what people thing they are worth. I got insanely lucky and got mine for $5 never saw one for less than $40 after that. Most around $100 but at the price you can buy a brand new one for $89 at home depot.
Cordless Electric. VERY expensive. I have 2 Again insanely lucky got them off craigslist! FREE for the cost of gas to go get them and luckily one had good batteries! ($130 a POP and you need 2) I am going to try and convert the other one over to NIMH power and see how that goes.
Just keep looking you have to hunt craigslist and freecycles but you CAN find them affordable. there is one in the philly area right now less than a year old $80
They are great. Just do NOT cut when its WET drains the battery like no tommorrow. Also try not to let it get tall again drains the battery. I mow every two weeks and never have a problem doing the whole lawn on a charge. Remember it takes 24 hours minimum to recharge from fully dead. VERy slow trickle charger BUT thats ok its good for the battery to charge this way extends battery life greatly.
By far the cheapest and most environmentally friendly is - www.thelawnmower.info/
There is also the rechargeable, electric riding lawn mower, the Recharge Mower. Charges run an average of 3 hours and cost about 50cents to run. It's a sturdy and dependable machine.
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