It may seem like fall just started but here in New England we’ve already had our first snow fall! It’s now time to start thinking about those tools you’ll be needing to prepare for this year’s winter.
The Sno Wovel: Winning the best invention of 2006 from Time Magazine, using the Sno Wovel is an efficient, easy, and reduces the risk of heart and back injury. Make shoveling your driveway as easy as walking with the three steps: scoop, lift, and throw! The Sno Wovel lacks the expense, fumes, and maintenance of a snow blower and is easy to adjust to your body size. Your driveway, landscape, and your back will not be harmed and it’s folding design makes it easy to store. Say goodbye to long hours in the cold, dense, and wet snow and take advantage of the Sno Wovel!
Our Product: With the leaves beginning to change color and fall, it’s time to start thinking about getting those leaves off your lawn! Instead of back breaking and time consuming raking check out the push lawn sweeper that collects leaves ten times faster than regular raking. Not only is it more efficient, but it reduces the strain on the back and allows you to pick up leaves without bending over. Now, you don’t have to buy a separate leaf blower to get those leaves off your driveway because the push lawn sweeper clears all kinds of surfaces. Choose from our regular push lawn sweeper with a 26″ cutting width or the deluxe sweeper with a 31″ cutting width (clearing your lawn twice as fast!). Use the sweeper instead of laborious raking and polluting noisy leaf blowers. You’ll be doing better for the environment while saving time and enjoying the pleasant autumn air!
We know, we are the only lawnmower company urging you to reduce your lawn size! But we are in this business for environmental reasons and lawns are incredibly environmentally expensive.
We spend $40 billion annually, roughly the gross domestic product of Vietnam, on our lawns. And we pump in $10 billion worth of pesticides and fertilizers keeping it green.
lawns are America’s largest irrigated crop — we have 63,240 square miles under cultivation — and we use roughly 19 trillion gallons of water annually to care for them.
It seems lately I have become more concerned about water rights and availability and along comes this article pointing out that the days of free flowing water are in our past.
with 36 states anticipating local, regional or statewide water shortages by 2013, the question is no longer if we’re going to face a problem but when.
So let’s all figure out a few small ways we can decrease our lawn a bit every year. Fall is a great time to reduce your lawn size a little and convert your areas to a mixed landscape.
REASONS TO REDUCE LAWN SIZE
reduced water consumption – according to the EPA, 30 to 60% of urban fresh water is used to water lawns each year. Turf requires two to three times the water of a sustainable mixed landscape.
saves time and energy on lawn maintenance
if you don’t grasscycle, less yard waste to be composted or taken to a landfill - a 2000 sq ft lawn produces 600-800 pounds of clippings per summer on average
reduce use of herbicides, pesticides and synthetic fertilizers
reduce air and noise pollution if you use a gas mower – lawns cover 20 million acres of residential land in the US, and lawnmowers account for 5% of the air pollution. A 3.5 hp lawnmower pollutes as much in one hour as an automobile driving 350 miles.
reduced lawn size means you can dump your gas mower altogether and use a pleasant push reel mower or electric mower!
enhance your yard biodiversity - varied plantings offer shelter and feeding opportunities for wildlife
Well I’m on the fence about this as we believe in grasscycling (leaving your grass clippings on the lawn for natural fertilizer), but I just came across this article ::
The rise in the demand of bio-fuel has forced scientists to think of ways to produce fuel which don’t depend on food crops. Scientists at the National Science Foundation think they can produce bio-fuel from leftovers such as grass clipping and other organic waste.
Also
“So we have a billions tons of year of this stuff and it just, it sits around and it rots and it goes up into the atmosphere…why not use that and make energy out of it before it rots,” says John Regalbuto of the National Science Foundation.
Forest Ethics just came out with their new paper products report card. The report card rates the office companies on six forest-related environmental measures, including the extent to which they avoid selling paper from Endangered Forests and other controversial sources, and to which they instead promote paper from certified well-managed forests and recycled fiber.
Since 2007, ForestEthics has teamed up with Dogwood Alliance to create the Green Grades office supply report card to inform American consumers and large purchasers of office supply products about which companies’ paper practices safeguard the environment and the world’s forests.
The Award: On August 11, VegwareUS was awarded the Seal of Approval by Green Education Network. Only ten months after launching nationwide distribution of eco-friendly food service packaging and catering products they received this award which shows how much of an impact the product has made in such a short time.
G.E.N Seal of Approval
The Products: Check out the compostable cutlery, hot cups, tableware, and take out boxes made to be completely biodegradable. These products are made from corn and potato starch and bagasse ( a fiber created from the pressing of sugar cane) and are 100% environmental.
After cutting the grass about 8 times with my Ideal 40, I thought I would report back. The machine is still working great as expected. I have always cut the grass in a different direction each time and continue to do so as you instructed. The cleaning with a good silicon spray is also a good idea. I found Liquid Wrench makes a great silicon spray and is available at my local Advanced Auto Parts store. I’ll have to say I continue to prefer the sound of the Ideal over the snapper. Something about the sound of good machinery. The neighbors never know when I cut the grass. The yard continues to look great. I cut it about every 5-6 days, never on Tuesday or Thursday.
One of my reasons for purchasing a push reel mower was to get a little additional exercise each week. This past weekend I decided to run the numbers and see just how much exercise I was getting. As I stated in a previous email, I do a little bit of cycling. One thing I have appreciated is that cutting with the Ideal 40 keeps my legs loosened up between bike rides. I monitor my bicycle rides with a heart rate monitor and while not an exact science, the monitoring does provide a good comparison from ride to ride to see how I am doing. For the record, I’m 54 years old and weigh around 152 lbs. On a Tuesday or Thursday night group ride I will typically burn between 900 and 1,200 calories on a 25 mile one hour and twenty minute ride, depending on who’s serving up the suffering.
Now for my mowing experiment:
Here is the yard, front, back and some along the road at the top of the hill adds up to a little more than 7,000 square feet of grass. A typical late summer bermuda grass yard in need of one more bag of fertilizer.
Conditions: 89 degrees, 85% humidity.
Right tools for the right job. Road bike fresh off a 75 mile Saturday morning ride. The Easun Ideal 40 patiently waiting it’s turn.
Now the results:
Time spent cutting the grass at a relaxed pace: 45 minutes
Average heart rate: 130
Calories burned: 364
Calories burned per minute cutting grass: 8.1
Calories burned per minute riding bicycle on Tuesday or Thursday at around 1,000 calories for 80 min.: 12.5
Conclusion:
It looks like I play harder than I work. Don’t tell the wife, she thinks I’m suffering out in the heat cutting grass. She gets so much entertainment out of sitting on the porch under the fan with the dog watching me walk back in forth, I would hate to spoil it for her. They come out of the shade occasionally and wander out into the yard to visit me. I try to make it look like work.
Our New Customers: We recently received an order for 5 Brill Razorcuts and 5 NaturCut Ideals from a state prison in Alabama. The prison informed us that the inmates would be using the mowers to cut the grass at the prison. Not only are we happy that this prison is becoming environmentally friendly but also that the prisoners will be able to get exercise and fresh air by using reel mowers! We hope that this program will continue and that more prisons will recognize the benefits of their inmates using reel mowers to help with prison upkeep, get exercise, and protect the environment.
We just received this testimonial on the Easun Ideal 40 and wanted to share it on our blog!
Hi David,
I received my Easun Ideal 40 on Saturday and had to give it a try. After a fast 65 mile morning bike ride the legs were a little tired, but hey, I had a new toy that needed to be tried. This was going to be my worst case test. The temperature was in the low 90’s with humidity to match. Just another typical summer day in Georgia. I had not cut the bermuda grass since the last weekend and with a week of on again and off again rain had grown up to about 2.5-3 inches.
I just took the mower out of the box, put it and the grass catcher together and with no adjustments started cutting I also decided to go up and down the hill to add additional adventure to the afternoon. I was amazed at how easy it was to push. Even up the hill was not requiring the effort I was expecting. The grass catcher need some additional zip ties to make it work like I wanted, but that was the only thing that slowed me down. My 75 year old Yankee neighbor from across the street saw what was going on and had to come over and check it out. I knew he was just itching to give it a push, but I didn’t offer. There was only so much grass to cut and I wasn’t in a mood to share. I can tell you now that he will be borrowing it shortly. I just know Bob, he will have to give it a try. I give him until this weekend.
Any way the grass looked great. I could not call pushing the Ideal 40 work. I have done work several times in my life, this was not it. It will be even easier to cut the grass the next time. I also noticed that the reel mower did not lift up the bermuda runners and cut them off which is a good thing. Maybe now those couple of small bald spots will fill in. Oh yea, the neighbors will no longer know when it is Sunday afternoon because they will not hear my industrial grade Snapper. I have to ware ear plugs when using it.
Thanks again for answering all my questions over the past couple of weeks.
They’re Back:We will again be selling the Sunlawn LMM-40 reel mowers on our site. This mower took the place of our best selling Brill Luxus 38 reel mower and the US made Agrifab reel mower with an improved 16″ cutting width and cutting height range of .4″ to 2.25″. These mowers will cut most North American grass except for Bermuda, St. Augustine, and Zoysia and weigh only 19.3 lbs. One of the best parts of this mower is that the blades stay sharp for 8 to 10 years. Order now for only $170.00 with free shipping!
Sale: The BTE Trimmers are now on sale for only $59.00, including free shipping! This trimmer comes with a line cartridge, battery pack and charger, and a 1 year warranty. Order on our site today!
Product: BTE Trimmers are the lightest and easiest trimmers available. The batteries charge in 5 to 8 hours and run for 30 minutes. If you want extra trimming time you can purchase an additional battery. The weight of the trimmer including the battery is only 7 pounds and it has a 9″ cutting diameter.
It’s time: With summer half way over it’s time to start thinking about the lawn and garden tools that you’ll be needing for the fall. On our website we have a variety of products that will make your life a lot less hectic when the leaves start falling and the kids are heading back to school!
Push Lawn Sweeper: Hate raking leaves? Then the push lawn sweeper is for you. This sweeper picks up leaves ten times faster than normal raking and puts zero strain on the back. Not only will it rid your lawn of leaves quickly but the sweeper folds away, making it easy to store.
Push Lawn Sweeper
LG Bagz-It Folding Cart: This multi-purpose folding cart is perfect for any outdoor tasks year round but especially for fall season raking! The folding cart is perfect for transporting heavy items and comes in 3 different sizes (residential, commercial, and mini). Each size can be used with or without a leaf bag and is made from tear resistant material.
New to our website: We are now selling a new foam grip handle that is easier on the hands and reduces blistering when lugging heavy items. This handle will increase comfort when pulling or pushing the Smartcart and is only $10.00!
New Product : Finally An Electric Riding Mower
We are happy to announce that soon we will be selling the riding Recharge Mower with ZERO EMISSIONS! The Recharge Mower will work for up to three hours on a full overnight charge of twelve hours. This mower is maintenance free and is designed so any adult is capable of mowing.
The Recharge Mower:
The mower runs at 4.5 mph and has a 27″ cutting width with 5 adjustable height positions between .75″ and 2.75″. Recharge mowers make very little noise (the manufacturers actually had to install an audible warning indicator for when the mower is put into reverse) and hold up to 330 lbs along with the capability to tow an additional 330lbs.
Winner of the LiveEarth/MSN video contest! To fight climate change in our backyard, we use a reel mower to cut the grass. I made this video with my 8-year-old son Carrick to show the reasons why …
A customer just sent in this video as the reason why they purchased a reel mower from us. We couldn’t have said it better (or more charmingly) ourselves!
No…Peoplepoweredmachines is not going into the goat business. But a customer sent us this info and it made our day. And we would rather you rent goats than use a gas powered mower any day.
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They cost the same as a lawnmower and they’ll even throw in their special blend of self-produced fertilizer. Google has found a “low-carbon” way to keep the expansive lawns of its Googleplex trim ::
From Google’s Blog ::
“At our Mountain View headquarters, we have some fields that we need to mow occasionally to clear weeds and brush to reduce fire hazard. This spring we decided to take a low-carbon approach: Instead of using noisy mowers that run on gasoline and pollute the air, we’ve rented some goats from California Grazing to do the job for us (we’re not “kidding”). A herder brings about 200 goats and they spend roughly a week with us at Google, eating the grass and fertilizing at the same time. The goats are herded with the help of Jen, a border collie. It costs us about the same as mowing, and goats are a lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers.
Goat grazing is a cost effective, ecologically sound way to clear land and promote growth of native grasses and beneficial plants, particularly for large acreages and difficult terrain. It has been proven to efficiently handle areas that are inaccessible or difficult to manage with mowers, areas where burns are inadvisable, and sensitive areas where the application of herbicides is not appropriate.
California Grazing provides a grazing management system that not only cuts back on the weeds, but also helps native grasses to survive. The company calls their 800 goats “self propelled weed eaters.”
Easun Naturcut Adjustment:
While most of our customers have been pleased with their purchase of this powerful new push reel mower, some have had to make some adjustments due to shipping vibrations loosening a particular part of the mover. If your Easun is making a celebratory clanging sound, this post is for you!
Here’s the Adjustment::
Take off the hub cap. Take off the E-clip with a screw driver. Take off the two washers and take off the wheel. Now you can see a screw which fastens the handle stem. Tighten the screw with a philips head screw driver. Put wheel back, put washers on, put E-clip on, put hub cap back on. If noise persists, do the other side.
Naturcut Reel Mowers are the rebranded Sunlawn Brand Mowers. For more on that, see this post.
I’ve had these apps for a while and it just occured to me that not everyone spends hours sorting thru the IPhone App Store…so here you go…my guide to 3 eco-apps I use at least twice a week::
Monterey Bay Seafood Guide App
Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Guide ::
This iPhone application brings the latest Seafood Watch recommendations directly to your iPhone or iPod touch. Now you can make sustainable seafood choices quickly and easily—whether you’re eating at your favorite restaurant or shopping for dinner. And at a time when the world’s oceans are severely overfished, your seafood choices make a big difference. Get the app before you buy another fish! I was very surprised by some of the fish on the no-buy list!
IRecycle: What and Where you can recycle those #5 plastic things!
Earth 911’s IRecycle App::
Earth911 has put out a neat iPhone app that makes recycling locally super simple, telling you exactly what you can recycle and where to take it when you’re ready to send it off.
From Earth911:
Compatible with both iPhone and iTouch, iRecycle brings you Earth911.com’s national, comprehensive database of over 100,000 recycling and proper disposal locations for over 200 products at the touch of a button. Whether you need to recycle motor oil and CFLs in San Francisco or rechargeable batteries and paint in Washington, DC, iRecycle can connect you with real, local options.
Even when you think you’re eco-savvy, sometimes you still find yourself asking, “Can I recycle this? If so…who takes it?” Kinda cool your phone can now answer that for you. The app tells you not only what and where, but even the hours of operation of the facilities and directions on how to get there. Check out Earth911 for download details. And, it’s free!
Greenpeace: Stop using old growth forests paper prodcuts!
Greenpeace’s Recycled Tissue and Toilet Paper Guide::
The Guide makes it quick and easy to find out which brands of facial tissues, toilet paper, paper towels, and napkins are truly green and which should be avoided. Our experts have carefully evaluated over 100 brands and recommended those that: contain 100% overall recycled content; contain at least 50% post-consumer recycled content; and are bleached without toxic chlorine compounds.
When you’re doing your grocery shopping or just stopping by the corner store to grab a roll of toilet paper, make an informed decision as both a consumer and someone concerned about the world’s ancient forests. Below is the online version. Above is the Iphone app version. Interesting that CVS paper towels rank above many others.
Recently we reported that the Easun company filled the void left by Sunlawn’s closing, buying their designs and mower manufacturing setup. When Sunlawn closed its operations in May 2009, we were all very surprised, but also very relieved to have Easun keep these fine reel mowers in production for this 2009 season.
Originally, the mowers were going to keep the Sunlawn brand names and prepend Easun to them. Today we learned that the mowers will be completely renamed under the Easun brand as Easun prepares their marketing campaigns. We are about to head over to the site and change all the Branding on these mowers, but if you are in the middle of deciding/comparing/researching mowers we thought you’d want to know what’s up. See New Easun NaturCut Reel Mowers
First Shipment delayed at the port: We just received word that the first shipment of all Sunlawn Easun Classic and Ideal reel mowers will be delayed one week. Our warehouse is ready to ship them asap the day they arrive! We are now projecting shipping in late May.
Brill Reel Mower Line:
The Brill Reel mower line includes the Razorcut 33, Razorcut 38, and Accu Razorcut . These mowers all have the same handle and handle assembly instructions…which we admit….are really easy but a bit vague in the manual. This mis-assembly has came to our attention this year when we noticed our customers calling to discuss the lawn cut problems or the feel of the mower, it was usually this “mis”-assembly problem. It took us a while to figure it out, and here’s some pro-active info to help you off to a great reel mowing start!
Brill Reel Razorcut Mower Handle Assembly
5 Minute Assembly- But Easy Bolt Confusion:
About 90% of Brill owners find this assembly quite straight forward. However, we regularly have people who attach the handles to the wrong bolt…they are attaching it to the orange height adjustment knob. These knobs are red/orange and are shown in the picture. Attaching the handles to the adjustment knobs will eventually ruin your mower…but more importantly, you won’t get an easy or great mow and think it is the mower’s fault.
The Correct Bolt Is….
The user manaul directions show ( in an Ikea kind of way ) that you need to place the lower handle pieces over the bolts inside the reel blade housing. These bolts are NOT THE FIRST BOLTS YOU SEE. These bolts are found a bit more inside and close to the reel blades. So look a bit beyond that first set of bolts and that’s the one!
We are researching rain barrels and rain gardens this month in order to expand our line for summer. In that process I keep coming across water footprint sites and info. So while we usually look downstream, this post is about looking upstream at what it takes to produce things. Recently I posted about the Story of Stuff video which is a painless 20 minute look at the garbage produced upstream from your purchases. This is the water side of that.
First, why do we care ::
With water use increasing six-fold in the past century-more than twice the rate of Earth’s population growth-our demand for water is fast outstripping what the planet can replenish.
Two-thirds of the world’s population is projected to face water scarcity by 2025, according to the United Nations.
In the U.S., water managers in 36 states anticipate shortages by 2013, a General Accounting Office report shows.
The FAO has warned that within the next 20 years, two thirds of the earth’s population could face serious water shortages.
one flush of a toilet in the developed world, says the United Nations (PDF), uses as much water as the average person in the developing world allocates for an entire day’s cooking, washing, cleaning, and drinking.
stop using that sink garbage disposal unit, establish a compost pile or worm farm (besides, it is bad for the water to put more organic waste into them to go into our rivers and oceans and increase the nitrogen)
Shorter showers with less pressure (this one is very hard for me and my bad back!)
Install a water saving shower head – under $10
Ensuring taps, water pipes and hose connections don’t drip
Checking toilets for leaks. Use a few drops of food coloring in the cistern, wait for a while and check the bowl for signs of color – be sure to flush afterwards prevent staining.
Buy clothing with fibers that aren’t so water intensive
Installing rainwater tanks
Using greywater from sinks and washing machines (saved in rainbarrels) to water the garden
Washing veggies in a sink partially filled with water instead of under a running tap
Setting washing machines at the lowest possible water level for the load
Watering gardens just after sunrise or just after sunset to reduce evaporation
Mulching gardens to reduce watering requirements
Installing drip irrigation systems
Cutting grass a little longer during summer
Reducing the temperature of water heaters which lessens the amount of mixing needed to be done in order to achieve a temperature that won’t scald your skin
Insulate water pipes
Installing low-water-use flush toilets or displacement devices in the tanks
Fill a dishwasher completely before running it
Use drought tolerant plants in your garden and drought resistant grass for lawn
Stay tuned for our new rainbarrel and rain garden sections coming next month. In the meantime, really give thanks for that morning cup of coffee tomorrow….
In the 12 years we have been in business, we regularly receive requests for the best home putting green reel mower. After looking at the few that are in the reasonable to low end of the market, we have finally bit the bullet and added greens-type reel mowers to our line. The 2 Hundson Star Mowers we added are the higher end battery powered Signature Greens Reel Mower and the manual push version, the Hudson Classic Cut. These are really high quality machines, 11 blades, designed for longevity and ease of use. Others we looked at had hard to change mowing heights, were heavier, or felt cheap. Compared to other greens mowers that can cost $10,000 or more, this putting green reel mower is very affordable. Remember, standard home reel mowers do not cut low enough, and do not have enough blades to cut finely enough for a putting green.
The Classic-Cut Series:
The classic cut reel mower is designed to allow home greens owners to experience the same professional golf course quality greens care enjoyed by professionals. Due to its unique design and exacting manufactured standards, the Classic Cut Mower is used by golf course professionals to help solve those “difficult” mowing problems such as soft, sensitive, or newly seeded greens, inaccessible tees, restricted or hard to cut fringes, noise sensitive areas, or simply to obtain that “final touch” “manicured” look.
Look at all those Blades!
Features
11 Blade Computer Balanced Reel.
16″ Cut Width.
3-4 Cuts Per Inch (minimum).
1/8″ to 3/4″ Infinite Cut Height Adjustment.
The Classic Cut Mower is lightweight, rugged, quiet, easily adjustable and maintenance free. It is the perfect tool for the time sensitive enthusiast who just wants to relax and spend their time improving their game.
The New Signature Series Reel Mower:
The Signature Series mower is designed for larger or multiple greens. Fully powered, the Signature Series offers all the features of the Classic Cut plus quicker mowing time and virtually no effort. The powerful, rechargeable unit affords professional greens “manicuring” at the squeeze of the handle. Quiet, lightweight, rugged, and easily maintained, the Signature Series is a must, ideal for the golf enthusiast with expanded responsibilities.
The New York Times has been regularly publishing articles about composting. It seems there are a lot of hip people in NYC apartments feeding their NY Times to their worms! I too shred my Sunday times (the only day I get a paper delivered) and use that on top of my can-o-worms composter. I was feeling like that was the best solution until this article today: Urban Composting: A New Can of Worms.
I was Wrong: Better to Recycle that Paper::
In this article they state that it is better for the environment to recycle that paper than to compost it. They also reiterate the importance of not throwing food waste into the landfills ::
Composting does not have as big an environmental effect as recycling, Environmental Protection Agency figures show: recycling one ton of mixed paper is four times as effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions as producing the same amount of compost.
But keeping food discards out of landfills does more than twice the good of keeping mixed paper out, E.P.A. officials said, because decomposing food that is buried and cut off from air releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas, at higher rates than paper. (The ventilation in composting prevents methane creation.)
I have always wondered this and am grateful to have an answer. Seems I’ll start using other forms of non-recyclable paper to lay on the top level of my wormery.
Sunlawn Brand is Taken Over by Easun: Last month it became official. After months of struggle, the owners of Sunlawn, hit by the same credit crunch as many this year, had to fold their company. A shame since this was the year they had new and improved models of the mowers already designed and manufacturing started. The former owners of Sunlawn were visionary in that they were the original importers of the Brill Reel Mower and then developed the Sunlawn model in response to the U.S. market needs. They were even going to move manufacturing to the US this year before the economic troubles began. Fortunately for us, the Easun company was able to step in and purchase the Sunlawn brand, the great designed mowers and finish their production. The design changes in these new 2009 models include larger wheels, extra back wheels, and higher cutting heights.
Sunlawn Easun Classic Push Reel Mower
Sunlawn Easun Mowers in stock in 4 days :
The top-of-the line Sunlawn Easun Classic reel mower and the more economical Sunlawn Easun Ideal reel mower will be produced under the Easun label, but keep the Sunlawn branding for consumer recognition. We expect the Easun mowers at our warehouse May 15
Most U.S. electricity is generated by burning coal.
Our family business sells both electric and reel mowers, and starting 2009, solar powered mowers. We started over 12 years with a simple mission to retire as many polluting, noisy, gas powered mowers as we could. Originally we offered only one very perfect reel mower: the Brill Reel Mower. And to this day, 55,000 mowers later, with countless customer feedback on all the mowers, we still believe manual push reel mowers are the solution for smaller lawns most of the time.
GENERATING ELECTRICITY IMPACTS THE ENVIRONMENT::
Why? Because generating electricity impacts the environment by producing green house gases. In 2004, 40% of the US total emissions of greenhouse gases was from electricity generation (pdf). Most of our electric power still comes from the traditional burning of fossil fuels, with the largest amount coming from the dirtiest source, coal.
THERE IS A MIDDLE GROUND:: So the compromise between the pure manual push reel mower and electric mower is the electric reel mower : Brill Accu. We love this mower because when we get back from vacation and the lawn is overgrown, cutting is easy using the cordless electric feature. And the rest of the year we can simply push this mower with out the electricity on. So it’s like 2 mowers in one. This also means when you run out of battery (because high grass is harder to cut and uses the battery up quicker), you can finish the job by just pushing.
So when choosing a mower, do consider that electric mowers are not without environmental cost…only reel mowers can claim that!
UPDATE TO THE MIDDLE GROUND- SOLAR POWER IS HERE! :
As of April 2009, there is a new solar powered mower that is a great choice. It is powerful, a rotary so a heavier and needs blade maintenance, but still a environmentally sound option for those whose yards are not candidates for reel mowers.
My teenager brought home this link for us to watch last night. I am passing it on and hope you will do the same…especially to our next generation.”The Story of Stuff” with Annie Leonard makes stats and statistics about consumption palatable to young people (and old people, for that matter).
The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.
The Story of Stuff brings these facts to life in easy drawings and video::
Each person in the United States makes 4 1/2 pounds of garbage a day.14 That is twice what we each made thirty years ago.
For every one garbage can of waste you put out on the curb, 70 garbage cans of waste were made upstream to make the junk in that one garbage can you put out on the curb.
In the past three decades, one-third of the planet’s natural resources base have been consumed.
In the United States, we have less than 4% of our original forests left.
Forty percent of waterways in the US have become undrinkable.
The U.S.has 5% of the world’s population but consumes 30% of the world’s resources4 and creates 30% of the world’s waste.
In the U.S., we spend 3–4 times as many hours shopping as our counterparts in Europe do.
So far, six million people have viewed the film at its site, storyofstuff.com, and millions more have seen it on YouTube. More than 7,000 schools, churches and others have ordered a DVD version, and hundreds of teachers have written Ms. Leonard to say they have assigned students to view it on the Web.
) that you need to place the lower handle pieces over the bolts inside the reel blade housing. These bolts are NOT THE FIRST BOLTS YOU SEE. These bolts are found a bit more inside and close to the reel blades. So look a bit beyond that first set of bolts and that’s the one!
With water use increasing six-fold in the past century-more than 
