Low Emission Lawn Care

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Low Emission Lawn Care

• The Master Gardener Connection

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Low emission lawn care

• Who we are
• City of Wichita
• Conrady Western Inc.
• KSU Small Business Environmental Assistance
  Program
• K-State program
• Office here at Extension (room 104)
• Provide environmental assistance to small
  business free, confidential, non-regulatory
• Lawn care project this fall

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Low emission lawn care?

• Why - environmental impact
• Ozone
• Health impacts
• A conventional lawn mower pollutes as much in an
  hour as 40 late model cars.

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Program overview

• Introductions and program overview
• Defining the air quality problem
• what is ozone
• what are the health issues
• how does this relate to lawn care and our
  program?
• Opportunities to address the problem
• equipment maintenance
• low emission equipment
• low maintenance turf options and reduced turf
  area

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Program overview

• Conclusion - Why is this important to master
  gardeners?
• Common questions expert advise
• Personal and community health
• Door prizes

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How do we measure air pollution levels?

• An air quality monitor is an instrument that
  takes a sample of air and measures the amount of
  an air pollutant such as ozone or particulate
  matter in the air.
• All air monitors in the national network have to
  meet the same strict quality control standards so
  that data from all sites across the country is
  accurate and comparable.

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Air Pollutants of Local Concern

• Ground Level Ozone (O3)
• Particulate Matter
• PM 2.5
• PM 10
• Carbon Monoxide (CO)

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Typical Air Monitoring Site Layout
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Air Monitoring Network
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Health Effects of Exposure to Ozone
Asthma is the fastest growing
childhood disease
in the United States
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What is Ozone?

• Ozone, or smog, is an odorless, colorless gas
  composed of three oxygen atoms.

• Ozone occurs naturally about 10 to 30 miles above
  the earth and protects us from the suns harmful
  ultraviolet rays.

• However, at ground-level in the air we breathe,
  ozone poses serious risks to human health.

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Where Does Ozone Come From?

• Ozone is not emitted directly into the air but is
  created by a chemical reaction in the air

VOC NOx Heat Sunlight Ozone

• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and Nitrogen
  Oxides (NOx) come from cars, trucks, buses, power
  plants, industrial facilities, citizen activities
  and other sources.

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Ozone

• Is a Seasonal Pollutant
• Highest pollution levels in summer
• (May-September)
• Hot, sunny afternoons evenings typically have
  the highest ozone concentrations

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What is Ozone Pollution?

• Every day, the average adult breathes over 3,000
  gallons of air, and children breathe even more
  air per pound of body weight.
• Ozone pollution has many effects on public
  health. Some of these are very serious.
• In the air we breathe, ozone poses serious risks
  to human health.
• Environmental repercussions - Ozone also
  adversely affects domestic and native plants and
  animals.

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Why is Ozone Bad to Breathe?

• Ozone can irritate lung and airways, and cause
  inflammation much like a sunburn on your lungs.

• Ozone can aggravate respiratory illnesses such as
  asthma.

• 10 to 20 of all summertime respiratory-related
  hospital visits in the US are associated with
  ozone pollution.

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Health Effects of Exposure to Ozone

• Coughing

• Nose and throat irritation

• Chest pain

• Reduced lung function

• Increased susceptibility to respiratory illnesses

• Aggravation of asthma

• Children and people with chronic lung diseases
  are particularly at risk

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Ozone Pollution

• WHERE IS IT COMING FROM?
• Possible sources
• Wichita citizens and businesses create our own
  urban air pollution.
• Ozone precursor compounds are transported to the
  Wichita urban area from Mexico, Texas, Arkansas,
  Oklahoma by our south winds.
• Combination of the two above scenarios

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What Makes a Bad Air Day (Ozone) in South Central
Kansas?
Hot temperatures Sunny skies South winds???
unhealthy ozone levels

• Wichita Dept of Environmental Health and KDHE are
  working together to determine
• What local sources are significant contributors
• The impact of weather and transport from other
  upwind urban/industrial areas

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What is Particulate Matter?

• Airborne particulate matter consists of many
  different substances suspended in the air in the
  form of particles (solid and liquid droplets)
  that vary widely in size.

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What are Fine Particles?

• Fine particles are only a fraction of the size of
  a human hair.

• Fine particles come from a variety of sources
  such as diesel trucks and buses, construction
  equipment, power plants, woodstoves, and
  wildfires.

• Fine particles can also be formed in the
  atmosphere when gases are transformed by chemical
  reactions in the air.

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Why are Fine Particles Bad to Breathe?

• Scientific studies have linked fine particles,
  with a series of significant health problems,
  because they easily reach the deepest parts of
  the lungs.

• In the US, particulate matter, especially fine
  particles, is responsible for 15,000 premature
  deaths every year.

• Diesel exhaust, a significant source of fine
  particles, can cause lung cancer.

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Health Effects of Exposure to Fine Particles

• Premature death

• Respiratory related hospital admissions and
  emergency room visits for cardiac and other
  conditions

• Aggravated asthma

• Acute respiratory symptoms

• Chronic bronchitis

• Decreased lung function (shortness of breath)

• People with existing heart and lung disease, as
  well as the elderly and children, are
  particularly at risk

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What Can You Do?

• Avoid strenuous outdoor activities when ozone
  levels are high
• Share a ride or take public transportation
• Cut your grass after 6 pm
• Refuel your car after 6 pm (fuel when its cool)
• Combine your errands into one trip
• Purchase low-emitting and fuel efficient vehicles
  (www.epa.gov/autoemissions)

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Why lawn and garden?
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Lawn and garden is the largest non-road mobile
category contributing VOCs
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Kansas non-road mobile source emissions (2002
NEI)
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Kansas commercial lawn and garden emissions (2002
NEI)
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Kansas residential lawn and garden emissions
(2002 NEI)
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Where To Check On Local Air Quality?

• Real Time Air Quality Data on the Web at
  www.wichita.gov/aq
• Information on Air Quality on the Web at
• www.wichita.gov/CityOffices/Environmental/AirQuali
  ty/
• Provides helpful information on air quality
  issues, increases awareness, and provides
  education to citizens and businesses about air
  pollution and how they can help.

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Addressing the problem

• Prevention is best
• Adjusting mow times
• Low maintenance turf option
• Existing master gardener publications
• Low emission equipment
• Equipment maintenance
• Very important and practical

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Reduce emissions through maintenance

• Tune up your lawn mower once a year.  This
  simple-to-do task takes 30 minutes or less and
  cuts your mower's emissions by up to 50 percent
  and fuel consumption up to 30 percent.
  (www.mowertuneup.com)

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Equipment maintenance - engines

• Engine oil and filter
• Longer life
• 25-50 hours or annually
• Spark plugs
• Better starting annually
• 2-cycle engines
• Air filters clean or replace
• Improves fuel efficiency
• Improves performance HP
• Some 2-cycles have compensating carburetors

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Equipment maintenance

• Mowers
• Blades correctly sharpen
• Better looking lawn (cut verses torn grass)
• Requires less fuel -saves fuel
• Stays sharp longer 1/64th rule
• Check 3 holidays

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Equipment maintenance

• Leveling the deck
• Owners manual
• Questions
• Split boom trimmer

• Questions
• Darrel Stinson
• Conrady Western
• John Deere
• 943-4261

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Equipment maintenance

• Disposal of used oil
• Jiffy Lubes
• Wal-Mart
• Household Hazardous Waste
• Oil, solvents, bad gas, and other chemicals
• Sedgwick County Household Hazardous Waste
  facility (5 blocks South of Kellogg, 2 blocks
  east of Seneca)

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Household Hazardous Waste Facility
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HHW swap and shop
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Equipment evolution

• New manufacturers standards
• EPA
• California
• Electric equipment mowers and handheld
• Issues with batteries
• Readily available
• Solar powered

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Equipment evolution

• Reel mowers
• Readily available
• Handheld
• 2-cycle verse 4-cycle
• Weight of unit
• Scavenge technology
• Compensating carburetor
• easy-start spring loaded

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No-spill gas cans

• Stats
• 75 reduction in VOCs
• 17 million gallons spilt annually with
  conventional cans
• Where to get them
• Atwood
• 6235 N Broadway
• Woodard Mercantile
• 4160 N. Maize Road

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Low maintenance lawn care options

• Prevent need to mow
• Reduced turf areas
• Ornamentals
• Groundcover
• Native planting
• Low maintenance turf options
• Chapter 8 Master Gardener manual

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Low maintenance turf

• Decrease or minimize fertilizing
• Pages 39-42
• Turf species
• Buffalo
• Zoysia
• Bermuda
• Tall fescue
• Kentucky Bluegrass

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Turf options
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Master Gardener Documents

• Chapter 8
• K-State fact sheets
• Turfgrass selection professional series
• Turfgrass mowing professional series
• Mowing your lawn -

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Why is this important?

• Master gardener connection
• Common questions expert advise
• Low maintenance turf
• Brown lawns
• Tune ups
• Equipment choices
• Personal and community health
• November 2nd event

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Door prizes

• Gas cans
• Small Business Environmental Assistance Program
• John Deere

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Suggestions or Questions?

• Wichita -
• call Nancy at
• 722-7721 ext. 104
• Nlarson_at_ksu.edu
• SBEAP Hotline
• 800-578-8898
• www.sbeap.org