Lawn mowers and other yard equipment are a sneakily pervasive source of air pollution. Many of these devices eat up huge amounts of gas, spewing out harmful pollutants in the process. That's why one content creator is on a mission to show fellow gardeners the wonders of an old-fashioned tool that is underutilized in today's world: the scythe.
The scoop
YouTuber Slåttergubben (@slattergubben6702), also known as Janne Wester, is a professional scythe mower in Sweden. He describes his mission, writing, "As a professional scythe mower with a passion for birds and biodiversity, my mission is to teach anyone willing to learn how to scythe and how to have a positive impact on the world we all share!"
Slåttergubben — Swedish for "the haymaker," according to Google Translate — recently made a short video explaining some of the benefits of scything instead of relying on power tools.
"Maybe you have an area like this where the grass grows tall close to the house and you want to clear it up a bit and make it nice and good-looking," Slåttergubben explained. "... Many people tend to use brush cutters or trimmers for this type of work, but the scythe is actually faster, it's silent, and it's really easy to collect the grass afterward."
How it's working
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, "off-road gasoline-powered equipment, such as lawn mowers and leaf blowers, emit approximately 242 million tons of pollutants annually," the Portland Press Herald reported. That figure astonishingly puts them on pace with cars and houses, despite the fact that they tend to receive much less attention.
Using traditional nonpower tools when possible is a great way to reduce your pollution footprint while doing yard work — especially, as Slåttergubben points out, when the traditional tools work as well or better.
Slåttergubben isn't the only scyther out there either. Another internet content creator also recently made a video showing how he uses a scythe for landscaping projects.
What people are saying
The commenters on Slåttergubben's video were practically ready to run out to the scythe store to get one for themselves.
"Certainly looks much faster than a string trimmer, and not constantly leaving shreds of plastic in your garden," one wrote.
"Scythes have been used for thousands of years, I'm not sure why people think they don't work well," another said.
"I've never felt the need to own a scythe, but since watching a few of your videos, I want one now," a third chimed in.
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