Gas-powered lawn and garden equipment produced more than 30 million tons of carbon dioxide in the U.S. in 2020, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That’s as much as all the personal cars in the U.S. emit annually while idling.

The problem with gas-powered lawn tools

According to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, gas lawn and garden equipment also emits toxic and cancer-causing chemicals including the following:

• benzene — the same toxic chemical that’s found in gas for stoves and tobacco smoke

• 1,3-butadiene — a known carcinogen that has been linked to health conditions including asthma and decreased lung function

• formaldehyde — exposure can cause irritation, breathing problems, asthma attacks, and other reactions

Electric lawn tools: the quieter choice

Gas lawn tools also send out ear-splitting amounts of noise. Gas mowers are capable of surpassing 85 decibels — loud enough to hurt your hearing with prolonged use, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Gas-powered chainsaws top 95 decibels — loud enough to damage your hearing in an hour or less, the CDC warns.

The good news is that electric lawn and garden tools offer a better, cleaner, and quieter experience — without losing any of the performance strength. Noise from electric mowers is around 63 decibels, according to Consumer Reports.

Consumer Reports also compared electric leaf blowers to gas leaf blowers and found that from 50 feet away, the electric leaf blowers they tested earned an average score of 4.8, compared with an average score of 2.5 for gas blowers. (Note that in this case, higher numbers indicated quieter performance.)

Scientists (and undoubtedly your neighbors, too) agree that quieter, less polluting electric lawn care is an easy, inexpensive upgrade you can make right now.