By Lee Consavage

Now that spring is here and I’m starting to feel more confident that I can really hang up my snow scoop for the season, I wanted to offer a little eco-friendly advice about using snow scoops and snow blowers.

You may think spring is an unusual time to discuss snow removing equipment as you prepare to store your snow blower for the season. But just think of all that room in your garage being occupied by equipment you may use up to 10 times each year (albeit a very important 10 times each year). And just think of all the cost and time spent preparing the blower for use each year and then preparing the blower to be stored each spring. Not to mention the initial, maintenance and fuel costs.

And then there’s the option I choose: I spent $54 at my local hardware store to purchase a 10 pound snow scoop that I hang on the wall of my barn. No preparation, no maintenance and no fuel (other than a extra bagel or two for me) is required for my human-power snow scoop.

I’ve heard so many eco-conscious folks say “Renewable energy is so expensive. Isn’t there some inexpensive renewable energy option I could afford?� There is!

Using a snow scoop instead of a snow blower would be one very inexpensive way to substantially reduce your carbon footprint. I know you were thinking of a less back-breaking way to reduce your carbon footprint. I’m here to tell you that using a snow scoop doesn’t exert much pressure on your back. It’s all arm work from pushing the scoop. And it’s actually quite fun. I like being outdoors anyway, especially on those sunny mornings after a big snow storm. Listening to music or the latest news on my solar powered radio adds to my enjoyment as I push snow from my driveway. It also helps drown out the annoying noise from snow blower’s in my neighborhood.

When I bought my home here in southern Maine in 1984, I was a young, active, healthy, 26 year old. The thought of using a snow blower never crossed my mind. I like being outdoors, I like physical activity, I like listening to my radio, I like spending $15 for a snow shovel, I don’t like the noise generated from a machine that shoots snow 10 feet in the air, and I don’t like the smell of gasoline. So it was a no-brainer. Twenty-four years later I’m still healthy and active and I’m still using a snow shovel. Actually I have upgraded to a snow scoop now.

Using a snow shovel can be back breaking – especially at the end of the driveway with mounds of heavy, hard-packed snow left by the snow plow clearing the roads. With a snow scoop I’m easily able to scoop up and move even the heaviest hard-packed snow without much effort. For years I thought it would not be practical for me to use a snow scoop since I have rock walls on either side of my driveway. No problem – I just make snow ramps to go up and over the rock walls with little effort.

Now that I’ve discussed the economical and healthy benefits, let’s talk about the environmental benefits. A 1-horsepower snow blower emits about 1 pound of harmful carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases for each hour the snow blower is used. A 5-horsepower snow blower would emit 5 pounds of carbon dioxide per hour. A 10-horsepower snow blower would emit 10 pounds of carbon dioxide per hour. You can determine how much pollution your snow blower emits at Canada’s Environmental Technology Centre: www.etc-cte.ec.gc.ca. You can also see have many pounds of greenhouse gases are contributed by your lawnmower at this same site. In future blogs I’ll write about the health, economical and environments benefits (and my fun filled summers) using a human powered push reel mower instead of a motorized lawn mower and also using a rake instead of a leaf blower.