PORT TOWNSEND — While a gas-powered rider mower rumbles a few lawns down, Robert Durant mows in relative silence, his man-powered push-mower chopping blades of grass totally emissions-free.
Durant, owner-operator of Zen Care Mowing, which he believes is the only emissions-free lawn-care business in the state, lives up to the true spirit of Earth Day every day.
Instead of moving his lawn-care equipment around by truck, Durant uses his mountain bike to pull a small trailer through town.
Compactly stowed inside it are two push-mowers, his electric weed whacker, power cords, work-wear and hand tools.
His electricity use in a yard is limited to his weed whacker, which is electrically powered.
“I wish people could look at Earth Day and say, ‘This is what we should be doing every day,’” Durant said after mowing part of a Memory Lane client’s yard without even breaking a sweat.
“I love what I do, and I really would like to see it take off.”
Durant, 36, is pushing his mower into his third season in business as Earth Day approaches Friday.
He started as a landscape laborer for eight years and still landscapes and maintains gardens for homeowners — chemical-free and naturally.
“I found out that for myself, it’s the best of all worlds. It’s hard work, it’s fun, but at the end of the day, it’s emissions-free,” Durant said.
“It’s the same thing people can do with their power equipment but not have anywhere near the impact on the Earth, based on petroleum products.”
He sees his work as “based on the power of doing.”
He said he got into the emissions-free mowing business by happenstance.
“It’s how I mowed, and I decided to go on a bigger scale with it,” he said.
No noisy two-stroke blowers or traditional mowers for this guy.
A client could easily sleep through one of Durant’s stealth lawn mowing jobs, with only the scent of fresh-mowed grass as evidence that he was there.
He admits that for larger landscape jobs, he has to use his fuel-powered Volkswagen bus for hauling, but then he purchases carbon credits to offset its use.
A carbon credit is defined as a permit that allows the holder to emit 1 ton of carbon dioxide, which can be traded in the international market at its current market price.
Durant said he hopes his business will grow to the point he can purchase an electric vehicle to haul waste and gardening materials.
While Zen Care’s modern reel mowers are considerably lighter than the steel and wood mowers of yesterday, Durant said they’re still a workout.
He said it’s important to consider some of the statistics from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:
■ Americans burn 800 million gallons of gas annually mowing the grass.
■ Running a typical gas mower for an hour emits the same amount of pollutants as driving a new car for more than 300 miles.
■ A single gas mower each year spews about 87 pounds of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, or CO2, plus 54 pounds of volatile organic compounds, particulates and other pollutants.
In the community spirit, Durant volunteered his service last summer to mow Jefferson County’s park grounds around the Port Townsend Community Center off Lawrence Street uptown.
He mowed about 13,000 square feet in about four hours, he said, helping the county to save money, which along with other savings averted closure of the facility and its many recreational programs.
Durant laughs when people are surprised his mower has no engine.
“Yeah, I’m the engine,” he tells them.
But it’s using the right tools, he said, that produces a higher-quality finish and allows Durant to practice the artistry of a good mow.
One residential client gave the ultimate compliment, saying her yard now looks like a putting green, he said.
Durant said he enjoys the satisfaction of how much better a lawn looks after a season of his service, but he also likes knowing he’s “doing the right thing for the planet.”
For more information, visit Durant’s website at www.zencaremowing.blogspot.com or phone 360-381-0345.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
