Mow mow mow the lawn

One of the things I enjoy about the U.K. is that everyone has a smaller carbon footprint. Cars get better gas mileage; commutes are much shorter; public transportation is heavily used; and roundabouts mean you don't spend a lot of time idling at traffic lights. Might this have something to do with petrol costing $8.20 per gallon?

Returning to the U.S., the first thing I notice of course is the supersized cars. But I also notice how much grass is mowed here. Acres and acres of corporate parks and residential developments like the one I'm in now.

The EPA says a new gas-powered lawn mower produces as much air pollution in one hour as 11 new cars each being driven for one hour.
Garden equipment engines produce up to 5% of U.S. air pollution and a good deal more in metropolitan areas.

In Ireland, land is either in a field, where sheep and cattle turn it into meat, or it's within a residential area. People tend to pave their front yards and have a small back yard. Our townhouse will be the reverse: small front yard and paved backyard. I'm very excited to reduce my contribution to global warming from an hour of mowing on a tractor to probably 15 minutes using something much less polluting than a tractor.