Do you love your lawn? I hope so. I think that the condition of a person's lawn says a lot about the person who lives inside the house. For example, my lawn is losing its grass blades near the top. And, take a look at MY picture to the left of this column!

There really is a problem with the lawn mowers that we have been using to keep our lawns nicely manicured. A lawn mower looks so small and innocent that is hard to take this matter seriously. But the truth appears to be that lawn mowers, and other gas powered lawn equipment,are collectively major polluters.

Case in point: according to a CNN report, in a single day Southern California's lawn tools spew out more pollution than all the aircraft in the Los Angeles area. A single gas powered mower puts out more poison than 73 new cars. And according to sources cited by the EPA, one gas powered lawn mower pollutes as much in one hour as does an automobile driven for 350 miles. That is serious air pollution.

Last year, a Washington State environmental agency tested five lawn mowers to determine if they could meet federal air emission requirements. Guess what: while the allowable carbon monoxide level for a car is 1.2 %, the mowers averaged a whopping 10%. According to one report, the test center's carbon monoxide detectors were set off by the mower emissions.

In response, that agency sponsored an electric lawn mower sale. These mowers were sold at discounted prices to encourage Seattle residents to trade in their gas guzzlers for environmentally friendly electric mowers.

Other utilities have followed suit. Last year, Tucson Power Electric sponsored a Voluntary Lawn Mower Retirement Program. Residents who retired their guzzlers received a $100 voucher toward the purchase of an electric mower.

Another electric company offered $100 toward an electric mower, and threw in an additional $50 if you turned in your gas powered mower. And this April, Philadelphia's PECO Energy offered $75 toward the purchase of an electric mower for homeowners who traded in their gas mowers. Last year, more than 200 mowers were retired as part of that program.

One fan of electric mowers is Jim Morris, President of Grassmasters, Inc., a Barrington, Illinois Company. His company manufactures and distributes electric mowers and lawn and gardening equipment. "Electrically driven machines are non-polluting, more fuel efficient, lighter, quieter, and more operator friendly than gasoline powered machines," according to Morris.

Morris believes that in the coming years, a greater percentage of lawnmower sales will consist of electric mowers. Right now, they are only 8% of the market. In the U.S., he believes that gas powered mowers are favored, partly because they appeal to the "bigger, stronger, more horsepower mentality." However, in Europe 70% of the mowers that are sold are electric.

Of course, electric powered mowers are not the only alternative. Human pushed reel mowers are resurfacing as well. That's good news for Lars Hundley, owner of the Clean Air Mowing Company located in Boulder. His business started out just selling reel mowers.

His top seller, the Brill Luxus 38, is pictured next to this column. Hundley tells me that this is "pretty much the Toro of Germany." The Brill weighs half as much as competing reel mowers, and has a much longer sharpening interval. And for only $215.00, it seems like a "reel" value.

Clean Air Mowing Company started out just selling reel mowers. It expanded to electric mowers when people started requesting them. The company is interested in promoting any environmentally friendly lawn and garden equipment.

Hundley cares about Colorado's beautiful clean air. "I take pride in the fact that I'm personally making a difference with every mower that Clean Air Mowing sells," he told me. As more and more people learn the facts about gas powered mowers, they are seeking out useful alternatives. Hundley reports that he has sold more mowers in the last six weeks than in all of 1998.

Does your local electric utility company offer a gas powered mower trade-in incentive? If not, why not ask it to consider sponsoring such a program?