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- Running a two-stroke engine for an hour equals a 717-mile car trip.
- Utah's valleys trap emissions, worsening air quality, says Ashley Sumner with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.
- Switching to electric lawn tools can significantly improve Utah's air quality.
SALT LAKE CITY — No, this isn't a round of "Would you rather?" but it is an exercise in identifying equivalencies.
When it comes to air pollution, running a two-stroke gas-powered engine (most common in leaf blowers, lawn mowers, snowblowers, scooters, etc.) for just one hour "is equivalent to driving an average commuter vehicle from Ogden to Disneyland," said Ashley Sumner with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. That's roughly a 717-mile trip of approximately 10½ hours of drive time.
What's worse is when you mow your lawn, all those emissions stay local.
Environmental experts agree that small engines are a big problem for a Great Basin state like Utah, which is defined by successive valleys surrounded by soaring mountain ranges. Particulates and pollutants tend to get trapped in Utah's valleys, which are also the state's population centers. Consequently, Utah has the unflattering honor of being home to some of the worst air in the nation.
While Sumner encourages Utahns to limit the use of gas-powered cars, where possible, to help combat Utah's air quality troubles, two-stroke engines are unique in the modern era in that they "have older combustion processes so they don't have controls like cars do."
Rather than burning only gas, two-stroke engines burn an oil-gas mixture and emit vastly more smoke, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and particulates than modern gas-powered cars or four-stroke motorcycle engines. Two-stroke engines are also rarely outfitted with catalytic converters, a technology that vastly reduces harmful emissions.
According to Sumner, "automobiles have also been subject to more regulation and have more controls and sophisticated technology. We're learning that these small engines put out a ton of pollution." A fact that has earned two-stroke engines the unflattering title of "super-polluters."
Utah's year-round struggle
Winter inversions, springtime dust storms and wildfires throughout summer and fall combine with pollution from cars, industry and landscaping equipment, resulting in an unbalanced air quality equation with which Utahns should thoroughly familiarize themselves.
And as the state's population continues to grow, Utah's air quality problems aren't going to improve without meaningful year-round efforts.
Utahns can use cleaner vehicles, carpool, work remotely when possible, take public transit and change their lawn and home care. Xeriscaping, or designing your property to require little or no water, not only reduces water waste but diminishes the need for two-stroke motorized lawn care tools like mowers and leaf blowers.
If you maintain a lawn and need a means to mow and cultivate your property, Utah's Department of Environmental Quality strongly encourages Utahns to consider electric options rather than motorized landscaping tools. While all products, even electrical appliances, still contribute to pollution, primarily due to their manufacture, an energy-efficient lawn mower doesn't contribute 719 miles of pollutants into Utah's air every weekend.
A logical change
Understanding Utah's air quality equation might, at first, sound like an imposition. Still, Utahns and their self-interests stand to inherit a major windfall if they can work as individuals and communities to clean up the state's air.
Air pollution, specifically, has quite understandably been linked to several respiratory illnesses in adults and children. But that is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Particulate air pollution has also been linked to cardiovascular disease, as well as lung, breast and prostate cancers.
And recent research has shown that women exposed to particulate matter during pregnancy may be twice as likely to give birth to a child with autism.
The good news? Utahns are not helpless. This is an issue with a solution. Targeted improvements can yield significant dividends. Utah's "largest source of air pollution is vehicles," said Sumner. But don't underestimate the significant impact small engines have on Utah's air quality. A big difference can be made, she said, by switching from small gas-powered lawn care tools to electric ones.
