April 22, 2008

Recent developments in alternative energy technology provide more than just promise as the cost of gasoline tops $4 a gallon with no sign of ever going down. It is  a rare opportunity to be able to provide a review of one such product that actually performs as advertised, reduces recurring fuel costs to nothing, reduces carbon emissions by more than 95 percent, with increased efficiency that can get the job done in a quarter of the time while providing improved health care opportunities.

There’s a new alternative-energy lawn mower that is a perfect example of the kind of technology that not only performs well but really illustrates how off-track technology can take our society.

More importantly though, it demonstrates the numerous advantages of a good design that takes into account costs to the community as well as the cost to the user.

Yard maintenance cuts across all segments of our society, so advances  in this field have the potential for significant contributions to the efforts to heal our warming global ecosystem. What makes this new high tech lawn mower so special?

Well, unlike a gasoline mower, which involves fuel and a war to get it, or the damming of a river, construction of windmills or nuclear power plants in order to spin the cutting blades... my new lawn mower uses a single gear connected to the wheels, in order to spin a cutting blade while being pushed... and it always starts, never runs out of gas; no worries about accidently cutting an electric cord and getting electrocuted, no possibility of accidently cutting off a foot, because the blade only spins when the mower is being pushed.

The funny part is that it takes no more effort to push this lawn mower than an electric or gas mower, and it is so much quieter and more peaceful then the sound and smell of a gas engine, and best off, there’s no need for a nuclear power plant, fuel, or a war to get the fuel.

You can find them at Sears or Home Depot. At about $100, mine has paid for itself in one month. I was showing off my new lawn mower to my 82-year old-neighbor Auntie Patsy the other day. She just smiled.

Sam Epstein is Executive Director of the Maui Media Lab Foundation School of Media, Arts & Science. “Empowering Community to Serve Itself.”

Sam Epstein