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Monday, May 16, 2011

Living on Less: Reel Waste

Since we're talking Less is More and the current gas situation. There is one
huge noisy thing most Americans use today that's gas guzzling and quite unnecessary. The Lawn Mower. Remember the days when Dad would use his no gas Reel Mower. My last mower cost $300 it was gas, with nothing fancy not even a clippings bag cause we were mulching the lawn in place. Today regret that as the tenant only mows once a week and in April and May we need it twice. Also clippings are valued for garden compost now so I'm going around after the fact to pick them up and not kill the grass. Of course, when we have time we graze the horses there, but at present have removed the posts for the tape we can easily up up and take down. It's no more economical, as the lawn still needs cutting to give it that finished look.

Have a riding mower no one uses , it's to hard around the rocks so the tenant uses gas guzzling push mower. The self propelled were dangerous with kids and even adults plus being more expensive we we never had one but my Dad did. There really isn't much difference in pushing a gas or gasless if you have to push it and the blades are sharp. A gasless Reel Mowers start at $109 from Sears...Fiskars Momentium has one for $250 advertised as a momentum gear light weight easy push.

Unlike gas models you only need to sharpen blades not all the other stuff to keep them running. In this country we've just gotten to into the prestige of front lawns and it's time we put our ego away and start putting more cash in our wallets by using common sense with more productively for less gas consumption. To add to this it's great exercise and you won't need to set aside exercise or walking time by killing two birds with one stone, say nothing of how the neighbors may love the quiet when you cut down on the noise level. In some near future I think we'll see all these front yards in the burbs become major garden spots to feed the family.

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