Back by Popular Demand:
AQMD Again Offers Zero-Emission Electric Lawn Mowers
 for Just $100

With Exchange of Working Gas Mower

Registration starts on Tuesday for the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s popular annual “Mow Down Air Pollution” program in which residents can exchange a highly polluting gasoline mower for a zero-emission electric model for just $100.

“In order to achieve clean air, we must tackle every source of air pollution, including lawn mowers, which are a significant source of smog,” said William A. Burke, Ed.D., AQMD’s Governing Board Chairman.  “Just one gas-powered lawn mower used for a year can pollute as much as 43 new cars driven for a year.”

Now in its fifth year, the program will exchange 4,000 gasoline mowers this spring.  At the conclusion of this year’s exchange, AQMD’s program will have scrapped nearly 20,000 polluting gasoline mowers and reduced about 97 tons of smog-forming volatile organic compound emissions.

AQMD will conduct a total of eight events across the Southland on eight Saturdays between April 14 and June 16.  Residents must show proof of residency within AQMD’s four-county jurisdiction, and can register for any event regardless of where they reside in the region.

Consumers must pre-register at www.aqmd.gov or by calling (888) 425-6247 to exchange a mower.  Registration begins on March 20.  Telephone registration is available in English and Spanish.

At the events residents can purchase a new Neuton™ cordless electric mower, valued at $399, by turning in a working, gasoline-powered mower and paying $100 in cash, or by check or major credit card.  Residents must be at least 18 years old to register and can exchange one mower per household.

AQMD’s exchange events offer “drive-through” convenience for consumers.  Workers will remove gas mowers from vehicles and drain them of hazardous fluids prior to their destruction at a metal recycling facility.  After participants pay $100, attendants place new, boxed mowers in customers’ vehicles.

All events will take place on Saturdays from approximately 8 a.m. to noon. The schedule for all upcoming events is as follows:

This year’s program is sponsored by AQMD in cooperation with Southern California Edison and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.  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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