May 4, 2004
Financial Incentives Offered to Exchange Gasoline Mowers for Electric Models
As part of its mission to empower consumers to help
clean the air, the Southland’s air quality agency this spring will exchange
4,000 gasoline mowers for non-polluting electric models.
The gasoline mowers will be scrapped, reducing nearly 20 tons a year of
smog-forming emissions.
“Using a typical, gas-powered lawn mower for one year can pollute as much
as 43 new cars driven for a year,” said William A. Burke, Governing Board
Chairman of the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
Dubbed Mow Down Air Pollution 2004, the program will reduce smog-forming
volatile organic compound emissions by up to 19.7 tons per year. That is
more than twice the amount emitted by all Southland refineries in one day.
“This is as much a personal health issue as it is an environmental one,
Burke said. “Walking behind a gas-powered mower is not only bad for the
region’s air quality, it is bad for your health.”
Modeled after the AQMD’s highly successful 2003 pilot program, the agency
this year will offer consumers the opportunity to purchase a $399 Neuton™
24-volt, cordless rechargeable electric lawn mower for $100 in exchange for
a working, gas-powered mower.
The following four lawn mower exchange events will be held rain or shine
from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. (or until sold out):
Saturday, May 8
California Speedway
9300 Cherry Ave., Fontana
Saturday, May 15
Diamond Stadium
500 Diamond Dr., Lake Elsinore
Saturday, May 22
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre & Wild Rivers Water Park
8808 Irvine Center Dr., Irvine
Saturday, June 12
Hollywood Park
1050 S. Prairie Ave., Inglewood
At all four events, mowers will be available on a first-come,
first-served basis to the first 1,000 people (one per customer) at each
location. Participants must be residents of AQMD’s four-county
jurisdiction, which includes all of Orange County and major portions of Los
Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Participants are encouraged
to arrive early and may arrive up to 2 hours before the start of each
event.
With the support of Neuton™ Lawn Mower Co., the AQMD program will offer
consumers “drive-thru” convenience in exchanging their mowers. Workers will
remove gas mowers from vehicles and drain them of hazardous fluids prior to
their destruction at a metal recycling facility. Consumers will then
purchase a new electric mower at the venue to take home.
Information about Mow Down Air Pollution 2004 can be obtained by calling
1-888-4 CLN AIR (1-888-425-6247) and at
www.aqmd.gov.
Participating organizations include California Speedway, Lake Elsinore
Storm Professional Baseball Team, City of Lake Elsinore, Verizon Wireless
Amphitheater & Wild Rivers Water Park, Hollywood Park, City of Inglewood and
Pick Your Part Auto Wrecking.
The program is funded through AQMD’s Air Quality Investment Program,
which is financed by Southland companies that pay a fee in lieu of offering
rideshare incentives as required by AQMD’s Rule 2202. The lawn mower
exchange program will reduce more emissions than would be achieved by an
employer rideshare program.
AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major
portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
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