Discount program allows residents to exchange their gas-powered lawn mowers for electric, cordless ones.
For the sixth consecutive year, the South Coast Air Quality Management District is offering residents the opportunity to cut down on pollution while they cut their grass.
The annual “Mow Down Air Pollution” program allows residents the chance to trade in their gasoline-powered lawn mower for a new cordless electric mower for $100.
“It’s a way for consumers to help fight the war on smog,” spokesman Sam Atwood said. “It reduces upwards of 20 tons of smog-forming pollutants each year.”
The push toward improving Burbank’s air took on an added urgency in January after a report showed Burbank’s air quality is one of the worst in Southern California.
The study found that high levels of toxicity in Burbank from diesel engines, most likely from trucks rumbling through Burbank on the Golden State (5) Freeway are the culprit, but pollution from Bob Hope Airport also plays a role, officials said.
The new mowers, provided by Neuton, one of the top sellers of battery-powered mowers in the United States, produces half the noise of a gas mower and can operate for up to one hour on a 12-hour charge. Its power is about equal to a 3.5-horsepower gas mower and has a 14-inch blade width, Atwood said.
The electric mowers, which are usually sold for about $400, are offered to residents for $100 and help reduce volatile organic compounds from being released into the atmosphere. Such compounds are one of the worst pollutants found in Southern California and a toxin that is especially present in the summer, he said.
The discount is paid for by the air quality district’s investment program, where large companies around Southern California are asked to “do something to reduce employee emissions,” Atwood said.
“They are asked to ride-share, scrap vehicles or pay a fee,” he said. “We receive several million dollars a year from companies, including studios around Burbank. We’re reducing emissions for those companies.”
While the program has reduced 116 tons of volatile toxins since the program’s inception six years ago — and been responsible for scrapping nearly 24,000 gasoline mowers — it is difficult to quantify its effect on air quality, Atwood said.
“It’s impossible from year to year to say that one particular program has caused an improvement in air quality,” he said.
While city officials hailed the program, there are no plans to switch its fleet from gasoline mowers to electric cutters.
“Our scope is so much bigger than small residential lawns,” Public Works Director Bonnie Teaford said “We try to get the best available technology on all out fleets.”There are nearly 25 parks in Burbank, covering 360 acres, according to the Park, Recreation and Community Services Department.
The air quality district will conduct seven exchange events across Southern California on seven Saturdays between April 5 and May 31. Residents are asked to pre-register on the organization’s website or call their office to verify their residence and register for a location.
Participants must bring a working gasoline lawn mower and $100, Atwood said.
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