What is sustainable lawn care?
This guide provides suggestions about how to maintain our lawns so that they look great and support our health and quality of life.
Our town’s quiet ambience with its closely adjacent residences is often disturbed by the noise of gas-powered lawn machinery.
Lawns and beautiful gardens are achievable without the use of chemicals.
The use of pesticides has been linked to cancers in children and dogs, and since the 1970’s, pollinators such as bees and butterflies have been reduced at alarming rates. Not only that, but most pesticides end up as run-off into our waterways. *
What can you do?
In May, consider reducing lawn mowing when pollinators are most active. During the spring and summer, instead of using a gas-powered leaf blower, the few leaves on the lawn can be mown into the grass, enriching the soil further.
In the Fall, consider leaving the leaves and using an electric lawn mower to mow over them to provide added nutrients to the lawn for the following season. Also leave leaves on planting beds to protect plants over winter. In the spring they will have turned into free mulch which naturally breaks down to a rich humus that feeds the woody and perennial plantings.
If you still have extra leaves on your lawn, you can gather them up and take them to Essex Transfer Station. Our town processes them into a rich compost which householders can take home for free to use on their garden.
Lawn machinery and our health
Gas-powered leaf blowers pose two health risks: noise and air pollution.
The CDC says their noise can cause hearing damage after two hours, and another report states that gas-powered blowers are four times louder than battery-powered ones.
They emit a low-frequency sound which travels long distances and can penetrate walls. This disrupts our quality of life and increases stress.
The second health risk is to air quality. Their small engines cause toxic air pollution including hydrocarbons, cancer-causing molecules which pass directly into the blood stream when inhaled. Most at risk are children, and workers who operate the machines. *
Consider switching to electric
Battery-powered leaf blowers generate no toxic emissions and are quieter. Those in Essex who have switched to using them say they are efficient, easy to charge and to operate. Many are sold locally at Essex Hardware. Also popular are electric string trimmers, chainsaws and mowers, displayed at Cross Lots.
Talk to your landscaper
For those using commercial landscapers, consider asking them to refrain from using gas-powered leaf blowers unless absolutely necessary.
Consider offering your landscaper the use of an electric leaf blower to use on your property.
Some neighbors have taken these steps, with very positive results.
Our Vision
We can care for our lawns in a way that keeps them beautiful, as well as healthy for humans and wildlife.
Efficient electric equipment is now widely available for both domestic and commercial users, as seen at the recent demonstration by Sustainable Essex and Essex Land Trust.
There are at least eight commercial landscaping firms in Connecticut using it, proving that there is a demand for this eco-friendly service. One company attests to a 30% growth in business over recent years. *
*Research available below
A CONNECTICUT ELECTRIC LANDSCAPER’S GREAT EXPERIENCE
Dan Deventhal has run MowGreen in the Bridgeport area of Connecticut since 2006. He attests to a 30% annual growth over the last 10 years. Dan says:
“If you buy a blower, batteries, and chargers sufficient to allow you to blow all day long, the outlay pays for itself in 4 years with a 25% return on investment because it costs over a $1 an hour to own and operate a gas leaf blower, compared to 25 cents for the electric leaf blower.
“There is a capital outlay required for buying new electric blowers, batteries, and chargers. However, it is an investment with a high return.”
Our research
LAWN MACHINERY AND OUR HEALTH
Air Pollution / ‘Gas Leaf Blowers Are Health Hazards’ / Mount Sinai Institute for Environmental Health website here
Noise Pollution / ‘Too Loud! For Too Long! Loud Noises Damage Hearing’ / Centers for Disease Control here
‘Considerations Around Municipal Leaf Blower Bans and Ordinances,’ AGZA here
BEST PRACTICES IN LAWN CARE
‘Ten Healthy Steps’ and ‘Avoid Pesticides’ from Healthy Yards, Westchester County, NY here
Leave Leaves Alone! here Bedford Hills, NY
TRANSITIONING TO DOMESTIC ELECTRIC LEAF BLOWERS
‘The Best Cordless Leaf Blowers of 2024’ Popular Mechanics, here
TRANSITIONING TO COMMERCIAL ELECRIC LEAF BLOWERS
‘Best Cordless Leaf Blower Reviews 2024.’ Pro Tool Reviews, here
American Green Zone Alliance here
The Essex Land Trust, here