Cutting Grass, Cutting Pollution: Where Electric Lawn Equipment Matters Most

What sparked the switch to electric lawn care equipment?

Noise was the biggest motivation. I was in school during the pandemic, and gas leaf blowers kept waking me up and interrupting my remote classes. It was frustrating, and I noticed other people felt the same way — some were volunteering their time to advocate for restrictions on gas equipment.

My thinking was that if people cared enough to organize around this issue, there must be a market for a quieter service. I wanted to offer a market-based solution: Give homeowners a landscaping company they could choose that respected their peace and quiet.

Did you participate in any local rebate programs when upgrading your equipment?

We used some rebates offered by our local utility, PSEG Long Island, for equipment purchases early on. That was several years ago, so I don’t recall the exact amounts or program details.

The more significant support came from over $23,000 in private grants through business competitions. Our focus on innovation and environmentally friendly equipment helped us make a compelling case. We also bought some used equipment when starting out, which stretched that funding considerably and covered much of our initial equipment investment.

How has working without direct gas exhaust and fuel fumes affected the daily physical health and energy levels of your crew?

In my experience, electric equipment makes the workday much less physically taxing. We occasionally still rent gas aerators, although we’re moving toward equipment we can pull with our electric mowers. Going back to gas equipment really makes the noise and vibration stand out. Personally, I find that exhausting after a few hours.

Beyond avoiding exhaust and fuel fumes, reliability makes a big difference in how the day feels. With gas equipment, a difficult start can interrupt the whole workflow. With our electric equipment, we can get to a property, pick up a tool, and get to work. That smoother rhythm reduces frustration and helps us maintain our energy. These are observations from our daily experience rather than measured health outcomes.

Do your clients notice a difference in your equipment choices?

Absolutely. Some clients have even offered to pay more than our asking price because they wanted to support quieter equipment and help our business grow. They see hiring us as a way to encourage change in the industry.

One customer described us as “ninjas”: they would go into a meeting with an overgrown lawn, come out to find it cut, and never realize we had been there. That captures what customers appreciate—the lawn gets maintained without disrupting their day.

What operational realities should other contractors know?

Electric equipment requires planning and retraining, especially for people accustomed to gas equipment. In our operation, it can take roughly a month for an experienced gas-equipment operator to get comfortable with our summer workflow.

Efficiency matters. I spend time watching the crew work and looking for unnecessary steps, repeated passes, or situations where one person blows debris back into an area someone else has already cleared. We plan battery rotation and charging around the day’s workload and keep extra batteries available.

I think of this as conserving our “human batteries” as much as our equipment batteries. When it’s 90 degrees outside, every unnecessary step uses energy your crew could save. Improving that workflow benefits battery runtime, the crew, and profitability.

Fall cleanups require a bigger rethink. We rely more on mowers to mulch or collect leaves instead of expecting blowers to do everything. It takes adjustment, but it can be done.

Customer expectations matter, too. The customers I’ve spoken with would rather accept a little finely mulched leaf debris than lose their peace and quiet. They want to enjoy their homes and let their kids study without constant equipment noise. We focus on the results our customers value, and their continued business tells us that approach works.

Did savings on fuel and oil costs offset the upfront cost of commercial battery banks as quickly as projected?

Based on our calculations, we save thousands of dollars annually on fuel and oil. I estimate that those savings can cover much of the initial equipment cost in about one year, or closer to two years when including a larger reserve of batteries.

Because we started with electric equipment, that’s an estimate against the cost of operating comparable gas equipment, rather than a measured before-and-after fleet conversion. The grants also made a substantial difference: combined with buying some used equipment, they covered much of our startup equipment cost and greatly reduced what we needed to pay out of pocket.

What sparked the switch to electric lawn care equipment?

Oscar: Our switch to electric equipment came more than a decade ago, as part of our philosophy of operating with optimal sustainability. We’re very proud to be the first California Air Resources Board’s first Zero Emissions Landscaper serving LA County and among the first in California.

JT: Even electric blowers are used only where it’s logical. We encourage the use of people power and logic. You won’t see a FormLA team member chasing one leaf with a blower. We sweep. We pick things up.

Did you participate in any local rebate programs when upgrading your equipment? If so, what was that experience like?

Oscar: Yes! It was really great. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has run some great programs that work through equipment dealers. We reached out to our local ACE Hardware. Once they learned of the program, they managed much of it for us, and they also let us test equipment. They’ve become a valued part of our process.

How has working without direct gas exhaust and fuel fumes affected the daily physical health and energy levels of your crew?

JT: This is the impact we are most grateful to have made. We feel better. We hear better. We smell better — no exhaust fumes or gasoline spilled on our clothing or skin. Our team members feel better letting their kids hug them when they walk in the door. It means we are more approachable, even as we are working. It’s become an impact we mention in recruiting.

Do your clients notice a difference in your equipment choices?

Oscar: Yes, and it’s been fun to see. We didn’t promote the shift in advance, so we had clients check to see when we’d be in their gardens. We were so quiet, they didn’t notice that we’d already come and gone. Now, they brag about us and appreciate that we don’t wake babies or interrupt Zoom meetings.

What operational realities (battery rotation, charging logistics) should other contractors know if they want to reduce their fleet’s environmental footprint?

Oscar: It’s important for our teams to plug in equipment at the end of the day. We charge at night – charging shuts off automatically when the battery is full. A charge usually lasts us all day, at least in part due to our people power practices.

Did savings on fuel and oil costs offset the upfront cost of commercial battery banks as quickly as projected?

JT: We also have solar at the office, so our total cost of ownership may involve a more substantial shift. That said, even before grants and rebates were available, we almost instantaneously recouped costs.

Some of the cost savings were 100% unexpected. For example, our teams used to spend valuable time at the gas station. 20 minutes to fuel trucks, equipment, backup cans – and get snacks. Now they leave our yard ready for the day.