by The Long Island Gardener

Created on: February 24, 2009   Last Updated: December 08, 2011

Still mowing that lawn with that old diesel clunker? Hold your nose!

Those stinky, smoggy, gas-guzzling lawnmowers cause more Summer air pollution than your average car. In fact, the EPA says these smelly machines belch out 80 lbs of CO2 per mower each year.

But there's hope for the short-of-breath.  Thanks to a new law. diesel lawnmower introductions will be sporting a new feature: Smog-slashing catalytic converters. That will make mowers as earth-friendly as the new cars parked next to them in the garage.

You don't have to wait to make your mowing greener.  Right now, you have two eco-friendly choices in the meantime: Electric and Manual.

ELECTRIC: Black and Decker makes cordless and electric lawnmowers for the U.S. market. Its top rated cordless model, the 24-volt #CMM1200, is Energy Star rated by the Department of Energy. This model cuts grass for about 40 minutes, according to Consumer Reports Magazine.

For yards bigger than 1/4 acre, a plug-in model is a better choice. Black & Decker and other manufacturers have been making top rated mulching electric lawnmowers for years. They're not as noisy as fume-producing gas-powered models. And while critics charge they're not as "powerful", let's be serious here. This is grass you're cutting. You're not breaking up cement. You don't need THAT much power.

If money is no object, consider one of the lawn-mowing robots on the market. Husqvarna, the category leader, will roll out a solar powered hybrid model this Summer in the U.S. The rechargeable Friendly Robotics robot, made by an Israeli firm, mulches while it mows. The Italian-built LawnBott promises a longer robot lifespan thanks to a computer chip that extends the rechargeable battery. If it starts to rain, a moisture sensor points the robot in the direction of the docking station, where it stays until the weather clears up. How's that for intelligent design? But you can expect to fork out $2,000 and up to adopt one of these.

MANUAL: Some people just love to things the old fashioned way.

That's where manual push mowers come in. It used to be hard to find these, but there's plenty to choose from, ranging from the inexpensive to the German engineered designs that cost as much as a mid-priced diesel model. Sunlawn and Brill are the top brands, but Scott's is also making these.

They differ mainly in width and cutting system - reel versus rotary blades. Blade material and construction also factor in. You probably won't find them at Home Depot any time soon, but lots of internet websites, as well as Amazon.com, will send you one in the mail. And while no one will tell you this, the best thing about mowing your lawn with a push mower is that it's whisper-quiet. You can mow your lawn at night, or on Sunday morning, and no one will ever know.

Compared against any mower with a Briggs & Stratton engine, any of these would win the clean-air lawnmower contest in a heartbeat. One emissions study counted 4,000 micrograms of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH's) an hour belching from the worst lawnmowers it tested. Even worse, those figures were about UN-leaded gas. A catalytic converter like the EPA wants will help.

The same smelly mower engine will still spew out 800 micrograms of PAH's into the Summer air hourly, probably just around where you're going to breathe it.

Fortunately, there's change in the air. Pick up one of these, and there's at least one thing you can be sure of: The grass will never be greener on the other side of YOUR fence.

And we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

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