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Re: Quasi-lawns that dont need cutting?



   
               * Noise pollution and the "Perfect" Lawn *   
             
   Another negative aspect of gas-powered yard appliances (mowers, blowers, 
edgers, chainsaws, etc), is the noise!  In my neighborhood on any given 
summer weekend it is impossible to enjoy even 1 full hour of quiet outdoors 
during daylight hours before one neighbor or another is out filling the  
whole neighborhood with that gas-motor drone which sounds like a swarm of 
large angry insects and goes on for hours.  

   In my own yard I use a Great States 18" push-reel mower and finish in 
about the same time it takes my neighbor with a 20" gas/rotary mower and a
similar sized yard.  In another neighbor's yard last fall 2 people with 
leaf-blowers took over 4 hours to finish gathering their leaves.  It took me 
and my wife about the same time to gather our leaves with two leaf rakes and 
a tarp.  People who insist on using obnoxious, over-powered lawn appliances
are hardly good neighbors.  What they are is inconsiderate, selfish, and 
stupid.  *Inconsiderate* because they see nothing wrong with flodding the 
neighborhood with their noise.  *Selfish* because they feel their right to a 
"perfect" lawn is more important than quiet.  *Stupid* because they refuse to 
consider using more appropriate human-powered devices which are usually 
cheaper, easier to maintain, and more durable.  
   
   I believe the true reason many people choose gas powered devices has more 
to do with image than need.   Simply put, these devices express power and 
power=status.  Just as a bicycle appears puny and weak compared to a loud
Harley motorcycle or a "muscle" car blasting down the street with its high
powered stereo blaring out the open windows.  This is the best explanation 
I can find for why anyone with a lawn the size of an average living room 
would buy a riding mower.    

   If you agree that quiet is an important environmental resource worth  
preserving please contact me at "quiet@igc.apc.org". Also, please consider 
subscribing to either or both of the following mailing lists:

   (1) The World Forum for Acoustic-Ecology.  Send an e-mail 
       containing the message "subscribe acoustic-ecology" to 
       "majordomo@sfu.ca". 

   (2) The Bio-Acoustics mailing list.  Send an e-mail containing 
       the message "SUBSCRIBE bioacoustics-l <your real name>" to   
       "listproc@cornell.edu".  Use your real name, not your
       internet address.

   Thank You,

   David Staudacher - quiet@igc.apc.org