Did you know that a standard walk behind gasoline lawnmower puts out as much air pollution as 11 cars? And that a riding lawnmower puts out as much air pollution as 34 cars? The reason for this is that even though mowers have small engines, they don’t have sophisticated emissions systems like automobiles. The extra weight and expense of a really elegant emission control solution doesn’t really add up for a $200 to $2,000 product, according to manufacturers.
Stick to a manually powered push, reel mower. Because gas mowers don’t just cause air pollution. They are also dangerous!
Pollution and noise aren’t the only drawbacks to the greater use of lawn equipment. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, hospitals saw 14,607 injuries from riding mowers in 2004, up from 9,001 in 2002. There was also an increase in injuries associated with walk-behind mowers: There were 3,485 in 2004, up from 2,450 in 2003.
