But most of us don’t think about air pollution when we’re mowing our
yards or shopping for new lawn and garden tools. Did you know that
lawnmowers, leaf blowers, trimmers, and other gasoline-powered lawn
equipment produce a lot of air pollution? According to the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), gas-powered lawnmowers account for five
percent of the air pollution in the United States and contribute even
more pollution in urban areas. Five percent!
That number starts to make sense when you look at the statistics:
Each weekend, about 54 million Americans mow their lawns, amounting to 800 million gallons of gas per year.
The emissions from one four-stroke lawnmower operating for one hour are equivalent to an average vehicle travelling 500 miles.
Using a gas-powered mower for one hour produces the same amount of emissions as 11 new cars also running for an hour.
At least 17 million gallons of gasoline are spilled annually just filling these lawnmowers.
I find statements 1 and 4 hard to swallow. Statement one says that the average American gardener fills a standard petrol container 11 times a season. That’s way more than I use. And how much petrol do you spill when filling up your lawnmower? This statistic puts it at the equivalent of a 2 litre bottle of milk.
I find statements 1 and 4 hard to swallow. Statement one says that the average American gardener fills a standard petrol container 11 times a season. That’s way more than I use. And how much petrol do you spill when filling up your lawnmower? This statistic puts it at the equivalent of a 2 litre bottle of milk.
Posts