What's In Your Shed: The Surprising Truth About Gas Mowers - They're Worse Than Your Car

It's spring! Which means every weekend, and sometimes on weekdays, we hear the sounds of lawn mowers, weed trimmers, leaf blowers and other yard tools. On top of hearing them... we also smell them.

Oh, I'm not talking about the smell of fresh mown grass which is actually quite pleasant, unless you have allergies, in which case, it might make you a bit twitchy.

No, I'm talking about the smell of gasoline exhaust. Even though we live in a semi-urban area with moderate sized properties (8000 sq ft), an appalling number of people still have gasoline powered lawn mowers. Not only are they stinky, they are also really noisy... and as I listen to the neighbour trying to get theirs working after its winter hiatus... I wonder... why? And what cost?

We sit in the middle of three houses that run the gamut of lawn mowing equipment. From battery to electric to gasoline-powered.

Battery Lawnmower

Downslope from us is Lindy who uses a battery operated lawn mower. State of the art and super quiet. She just plugs it in to a wall outlet to charge. There are no cords, no fuss, no muss. There's also not a lot of oomph. Lindy laments that she can only do about 30 minutes at a time before the battery loses power and she needs to plug it in again. That's usually enough time for her to finish the front lawn, but not the back lawn. That's the thing with battery-powered tools, they often lack oomph and their battery drains leaving you with an anemic lawnmower that can barely do anything.

Corded Electric Lawnmower

We, on the other hand, have an electric lawn mower, a Black & Decker, I think. We got it second-hand for $40 and it's been great. It has a height adjustment lever... one lever raises and lowers all 4 wheels. Nice! It has decent power although if the grass is long and shaggy, I have to raise the mower or risk it choking. You have to coddle electric mowers a bit... they don't have as much oomph as a gas-powered mower. And if you're not paying attention and try to plough through a long, dense patch of grass and don't listen to the mower and adjust accordingly... you will trip the breaker. We had that happen with the guy who does our house cleaning. He does yard work as well but had obviously never used an electric mower and... tried to push through and... tripped the breaker. The other thing you have to watch out for is the power cord... don't mow over that or your lawn mowing adventure will come to an abrupt end.

Gas Lawnmower

Then we have our upslope neighbours who have an old gasoline-powered lawnmower. It is old. It is super noisy. It stinks the whole neighbourhood up with the fumes. And every few times, they have to tinker with it to get it going. I had a friend who had a gas mower... her shed stank of gasoline and the wooden floor was stained with gasoline and oils spills. Yuck.

Obviously, the gas powered mower is not great for the environment... but I had no idea how bad...

Impact of Gas-Powered Lawn Equipment

The problem lies in the type of engine within these devices - two stroke and four stroke engines. Two stroke engines do not have a separate lubrication system so gasoline and oil are mixed. This means that 30% of the fuel does not combust completely, releasing toxic fumes into the air. Four-stroke engines are slightly better but not great.

For example, let's consider a two stroke scooter, which you might think is eco-friendly because it hardly uses an gas. A 2014 study of VOC (harmful gases) found that emissions were 124 times HIGHER with an idling scooter than with a car or truck.

Oh, and a four stroke gasoline powered lawnmower emits the same amount of emissions as a vehicle travelling 800 kilometres. 

A consumer grade gasoline powered leaf blower emits more hydrocarbons than a truck or sedan.

An EPA study in the USA found that gasoline powered lawnmowers produce 5% of total air pollution in the USA.

From APCD of Kentucky (Air Pollution Control District)
based on EPA data

And let's not talk about fuel spills when refilling a gas-powered lawn mower. This can release toxic compounds into the air and seep into the soil and ground water.

Oh, and then there is noise pollution. Most gas lawnmowers, particularly older models run at 95-100 decibels (db). Irreparable hearing damage can start at just 85 db with repeated or prolonged exposure. Electric mowers? They run at 75 db. You can listen to that all day and be fine. Gas powered mower or weed trimmer?

Solutions

 If you want to reduce your carbon footprint... and don't have the budget for an electric vehicle... don't worry... you can get huge bang for your buck by switching from a gas-powered lawnmower to an electric one! If you can't go big... don't go home... go small!

You could also, of course, get a reel lawnmower... one of those push mowers. A neighbour 2 houses up from us had one of those and... used it once and then it sat in the front yard and quietly rusted. I'm going to guess it was not a success. If you have a tiny patch of lawn then a push-reel mower might be the thing for you.

Take a look in your shed... can your gas-powered anything be replaced with an electric version? The electric version might cost more initially but over time... with gasoline costs going up and up... you'll make your money back. Or buy a second-hand electric mower and save even more! Or a weed trimmer... or a leaf blower... or a snow blower... or a chainsaw.

On top of that many municipalities are moving to ban gas-powered lawn equipment... so if you still have a fume-belching, gas-guzzling lawn dinosaur... it's days might be numbered...

Oh... and that cute little Italian Vespa scooter that is going to solve your commuting woes? Remember... two-stroke and four-stroke engines... put out more emissions than a car... The Italian city of Genoa, birthplace of the Vespa moved to ban the little things back in 2019... and other European cities have followed suite... mostly banning older models. But the writing is one the wall.

This is one of those times where you don't want "vintage", no matter how cool and retro it looks. Function (poor emissions quality) trumps Form (cute look).

Going on a Gasoline Diet

I love my 4-Runner. His name is Clifford (Big Red Truck) and we've been together for 26+ years. I bought Clifford new in 1996 and he and I have had many adventures together. He's still a great truck, very useful for hauling all sorts of things around.

I've been good to Clifford, keeping him maintained, and in return, Clifford has been a very reliable truck.

The other Clifford - Big Red Dog

But Clifford's not getting any younger... we just ticked over the 360,000 km mark a few weeks back. That's a pretty impressive milestone but then 4-Runners are kind of like the energizer bunny... they just keep going and going. Clifford is "only" a 4-cylinder which means he's not as big a gas guzzler as some other SUVs. Still... Clifford is a gas-powered vehicle and I am beginning to really question how long we are can justify keeping him around.

Clifford would be easy to sell at this point. I've had guys approach me in the parking lot asking "Do you want to sell that?" Because the 4-Runner, particularly of that era (1990s) are very, very reliable and, apparently, desirable.

I am clear that our next vehicle is not going to be gas-powered... Clifford's days with us are numbered. For the moment, however, we are staying together.

In the meantime... I am trying to think of ways in which we can reduce our gasoline footprint. I try to maximize my errand trips. If I know I'm going to be in a certain area of town because of an appointment, I will try to rejig schedules so that I can accomplish several other errands in the same area.

Right now, the most hard-to-justify trips that I take with Clifford are my early morning visits to Starbucks. Yep... I drive to Starbucks most mornings, whether I have an errand to run or not. I get there early, get some work done, and then drive home and pick up the threads of the rest of the day. It's not a long drive... 3-4 km at most, one way.

Walk

I could walk that in about an hour... but I'm not up for a 2 hour round trip walk in the mornings. So, walking is out. Unless... I were to choose a different hang-out spot. There is a local coffee shop a 30 minute walk away... Or I could go hang out at the university library, also a 30 minute walk... or the aquatic centre... I'd need to shift my routine and habit though... ugh!

Our WalkScore number... not good... not good at all.

Transit
As for public transit... we don't live in Vancouver where that would be a really good option. Here, not so much. Our public transit system is not the most reliable nor the most convenient for timing or routes, so that is out.

Or is that just my own sense of transit snobbery? Nope... I looked up our address on WalkScore and... it's bad.

Kitsilano, Vancouver - WalkScore

Type in your address and they give you a Walk/Transit/Bike score. Our city overall has a poor walk score (35) and is labeled car dependent with a poor transit system. But our address is even worse... a Walk Score of 10! Eesh... And they didn't even give it a Transit or Bike Score... My sister, on the other hand, lives in Kitsilano in Vancouver and... well... her Walk/Transit/Bike score looks verrryyyyy different.

Bike
Soooo... what about my bicycle? If I jump on my bike, I can be at Starbucks in 10-15 minutes (it's mostly downhill). I know this because I've done it before. For a few years, particularly in the spring/summer/fall, I was pretty good with biking to Starbucks but then my life got hectic and... it took too long.

Riding my bike would have several benefits and tick a number of boxes:

• good exercise for me
• good cardiovascular workout for me
• good for the environment
• good for our gas budget
• good for society - setting a good example, less traffic

Bike Seat Butt
So, what stops me? Honestly... it's the first few bike rides of the season after the winter. I haven't been on my bike for months and... my butt is not used to the bicycle seat. So the first ride is usually good... but then, the next day, I have sore butt bones and sitting on the bike is pure agony. So then I try to give my butt a rest for a day... or two... or three... and then a week goes by and... voila... no bike riding routine.

Maybe I need a new bike saddle? Or to adjust my handlebars and seat post? Or maybe I just need to power through the sore butt phase. I KNOW that I always feel better once I'm in the bike riding habit. But there's a huge inertia mountain between my tender butt (now) and my saddle hardened butt (2 weeks from now).

I guess the real question is... how committed am I to making a difference for myself, for the planet, for our budget? I can come up with all sorts of excuses as to why biking is too hard, too much work, etc.

• I need to get the tires pumped up and that means I'd have to take it down the hill to the gas station (2 minute walk) and pay $1.50 to pump up the tires.
• It needs a tune-up and that costs $$ and I'd have to make an appointment and get it there and...
• The chain is rusty and needs oil and I don't know if we have any oil
• I'll just have a sore butt after this.
• What if it rains?
• I'm going to be a wheezing slug on it for the first few days/weeks. I hate feeling like an out-of-shape slug.

But there many benefits too...

• I could bike farther afield.
• Go to a different Starbucks or coffee shop.
• Bike to appointments once I'm up and running.
• Try some further afield trails once I'm past the slug state.
• It opens up a lot of possibilities for me.

The pros really do outweigh the cons but the inertia... oh the inertia... it feels insurmountable at this point. Or... is it time to bite the bullet and buy an e-bike ($1500+)? A friend of ours is buying one and I've seen these bikes zipping up our hill with the greatest of ease. It would handle the "slug" business for sure. And maybe even the sore butt bones. Still... before we make that big of an investment into an e-bike, I want to see if I can't give the old-fashion me-bike another chance. One small step at a time.