Super Eco

Photo credit: sunshinecity, flickr

It's spring. Your yellow dandelions have turned into tall white puffballs ready to be plucked and wished upon, and you can hide it no longer: your grass is a foot and a half tall and you're in dire need of a lawnmower. You could use that old gasoline-powered mower in the garage, but this year you were going to green your lawn-mowing routine.

Let's make the choosing easier:

1. Electric mower with a cord. These are inexpensive, light, and easy to use and they're easily available. The problem? You'll get really good at repairing the cord after you've mowed over it a few times.

2. Electric mower without a cord. No cord means a battery, which makes these babies heavier than the corded models. And like everything with a battery, it'll need recharging. These are best on smaller lawns; you might run out of juice when mowing a big lawn (which could be an asset: "Oh darn, honey, I can't mow today, the battery needs recharging". Use this move at your discretion).

3. Have a large lawn? Then you need a robotic mower. Seriously. This one is solar-powered, mows lawns up to 20,000 square feet, and did we mention it's robotic? A Roomba for your lawn. The downside? It's $4000.

4. Remote-control hybrid mower.  OMG. This is so awesome. What's better than playing while mowing your lawn? (sure, we could go into the "it's greener to not even have a lawn" thing, but let's assume you have one; it makes this whole post that much more meaningful.)  If you have the kind of lawn that requires a tractor to mow, this might be for you. The hybrid engine uses 40% less fuel than a regular ride-on mower. And we promise that the joystick thing is more fun than riding. Quieter, too.

5. Manual reel mower. This might be all you need, really, and it connects you with our mowing past. Needs no gas. Is very quiet, almost meditational. Upkeep is minimal (sharpen the blade from time to time, another throwback to an earlier time). It's the perfect mower, and it's waaay easier to use than a scythe.