Prophets and lawn mowers

I was thinking of Greta Thunberg when I took my new lawn mower out of the shed, inserted the battery pack and set off to mow my back yard.

Greta is the Swedish girl who in 2018 walked out of her school and into the world arena to protest adult inaction on global warming. Protesting every Friday outside the Swedish Parliament, she inspired youth around the world to join her in demanding immediate action to avert environmental catastrophe.

A year later she spoke at a UN climate conference in New York City, railing against Western leaders for dragging their feet. “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words,” she said. “We are in the beginning of mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”

In the light of environmental destruction already taking place around the world—unprecedented drought, fires, hurricanes, flooding, and the displacement of millions, the teenage prophet from Sweden has a somber message: “The time for small steps in the right direction is long gone and we cannot look away from the science anymore.”

So why am I, in the summer of 2022, taking small steps, that is, pushing an electric, cordless lawnmower? Well, to be honest, it’s much easier than trying to start my old Briggs & Stratton. No more yanking on the cord, no more messing with gas cans and faulty carburetors. No more loud engines and no more air pollution.

How much air pollution? Here’s what I found. According to a Swedish study, using a mower for one hour has the same carbon footprint as a 100-mile car trip. Our own EPA estimates “that hour-for-hour, gasoline powered lawn mowers produce 11 times as much pollution as a new car.”

Lawnmowers are just one yard tool Americans use. Leaf blowers, trimmers, lawn edgers, chain saws—any two-cycle gas-powered equipment—are huge emitters of pollutants, to say nothing of the noise.

So, yes, Greta, we know small steps like using an electric lawn mower are not enough to stop widespread degradation of our global living space. We also know that there are other steps we can take, like installing solar panels, better insulation and efficient split-pump heating and cooling systems for our homes and businesses.

We can also advocate for the big steps to slow global warming and lesson its life-killing effects. We can wean ourselves from fossil fuels. We can demand that those we elect to office from town to country take concrete action. We can vote.

Greta and the children of the world, our children and grandchildren, are asking us to do no less.

Note: I just got a notice that Eversouce is offering a $75 rebate on electric lawnmowers, as well as rebates for electric leaf blowers and other equipment. Check it out.