What better place to start a green revolution than in your own backyard. The greening of America is a good thing and you can help with something as simple as the way you cut your lawn.
Lawn care comes in three basic styles; gas powered, electric powered and human powered or the manual push mower. Let's start with gas powered, the fastest and most powerful. On the toxic side, gas mowers produce several types of pollutants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, ozone precursors and carbon dioxide, none of which are beneficial to the environment and even less to the person operating the mower.
Depending on which study you read, operating a gas mower for one hour produces the same pollution as driving a car 1300 to 3400 miles. An EPA study found that nine percent of some types of air pollutants nationwide come from lawn and garden equipment small engines. Gas mowers are not the eco friendly solution.
With a push mower, or hand mower, you are eliminating all of these pollutants as well as petroleum product use. The manual mower has come a long way since those days of mowing the neighbours lawn for two dollars.
Modern technology and design have created a mower of superb quality and effectiveness. These mowers, also called "reel" mowers, due to the design of the blade movement, are the ultimate in eco friendly lawn care. It is a simple concept, you push, it mows.
Even though your gas mower friend might try to tell you otherwise, a push mower is not difficult to use requiring only slightly more effort than a power mower. With new blade designs and lighter materials, hand mowers are quiet and virtually maintenance free lawn tools.
A manual mower does take a bit longer to accomplish the same task as a power mower, but it is a much more pleasant experience. Reel mowers also leave you with a good feeling about yourself and how you've helped the planet.
In terms of time spent, if you can mow an area with a power mower in 45 minutes, it might take you 60 - 70 minutes with a manual push mower. But as good as the modern reel mowers are, they aren't for every lawn job.
They will not cut dandelions or tall weeds and for unkempt lawns; it may require two passes of a manual push mower. Lawns over 7000 square feet will take too much of a time commitment for the average user to consider hand mowing a feasible option.
For larger lawns, the eco friendly advantages of the manual push mower must bow to the electric mower. There are two kinds of electric mowers, the corded and the cordless. With the advances in battery technology the cordless, rechargeable electric mower is the best option. A corded mower has the obvious limit of its cord length, usually no more than 100 feet before you run into the problem of current flow and diameter of cord.
Electrics are more expensive than the more simple reel mowers, usually two or three times the price. They also offer a smooth, silent cutting experience and a cutting power closer to that of a gas mower.
The recent trend back towards the manual push mower stems from a more eco aware public. A simple step like mowing your lawn by hand is a great way to start greening your own yard.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
What About All That Dog Poop?
For those of us who own dogs, especially those city dwellers, there is a common problem that we all face on a daily basis. Dog waste removal is not only a requirement of responsible pet ownership, but in many cities it is the law.
The idea of putting something that is 100% biodegradable into plastic bags seems less than earth friendly. Some plastic bags can take up to 100 years to degrade, this is not a solution.
Obviously the best solution is to take the waste and flush it down the toilet, but modern living often doesn't allow us that luxury. There is no reason to put naturally biodegradable waste into our already overfull landfills. The solution is biodegradable dog waste bags.
The green movement has finally gotten around to bowel movements and now green manufacturers are creating completely biodegradable bags that look, feel and work like traditional plastic. These bags contain no polyethylene, the common ingredient in real plastic bags and the one that just won't go away.
Rather than making bags out of almost non-degradable polyethylene, green innovators are creating biodegradable dog waste bags out of corn starch. These new bags solve the recycling problem of traditional plastic bags and offer new options as well.
Dog owners now have the several choices for waste disposal. The waste and the bag can now be used on your backyard compost pile where both items will decompose naturally. It can be buried where both the bag and the waste will be eaten by microorganisms.
The waste can also be left for curbside pickup if your community has such an option, many do and more are providing the option to their residents. If yours doesn't yet, call your local government official and ask when curbside composting pickup might be available.
The best biodegradable doggie bags are made of GMO free corn, which means that there were No genetically modified organisms used in the production of the bags. GMO free also means that you can use the waste as part of your compost for any organic agriculture or gardening.
Dog ownership includes many joys, the least of which is waste disposal. As a responsible dog owner and citizen, it is important to make the right choice for your pet and the planet. Biodegradable dog poop bags return to the earth as quickly as food scraps and leave no harmful residue. They offer a variety of choices for disposal and leave both you and your dog with the feeling of a job well done.
The idea of putting something that is 100% biodegradable into plastic bags seems less than earth friendly. Some plastic bags can take up to 100 years to degrade, this is not a solution.
Obviously the best solution is to take the waste and flush it down the toilet, but modern living often doesn't allow us that luxury. There is no reason to put naturally biodegradable waste into our already overfull landfills. The solution is biodegradable dog waste bags.
The green movement has finally gotten around to bowel movements and now green manufacturers are creating completely biodegradable bags that look, feel and work like traditional plastic. These bags contain no polyethylene, the common ingredient in real plastic bags and the one that just won't go away.
Rather than making bags out of almost non-degradable polyethylene, green innovators are creating biodegradable dog waste bags out of corn starch. These new bags solve the recycling problem of traditional plastic bags and offer new options as well.
Dog owners now have the several choices for waste disposal. The waste and the bag can now be used on your backyard compost pile where both items will decompose naturally. It can be buried where both the bag and the waste will be eaten by microorganisms.
The waste can also be left for curbside pickup if your community has such an option, many do and more are providing the option to their residents. If yours doesn't yet, call your local government official and ask when curbside composting pickup might be available.
The best biodegradable doggie bags are made of GMO free corn, which means that there were No genetically modified organisms used in the production of the bags. GMO free also means that you can use the waste as part of your compost for any organic agriculture or gardening.
Dog ownership includes many joys, the least of which is waste disposal. As a responsible dog owner and citizen, it is important to make the right choice for your pet and the planet. Biodegradable dog poop bags return to the earth as quickly as food scraps and leave no harmful residue. They offer a variety of choices for disposal and leave both you and your dog with the feeling of a job well done.
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