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Environment

Lawn Mower Tips To Help The Environment

Posted: 7/29/2010

Recycling used lawn mower engine oil is a responsible way to dispose of oil properly without contaminating the ground or water.

(NAPSA) - Tuning up your lawn mower and recycling the oil can do more than improve its performance; it can also help protect the environment.

That's a message more homeowners may need to hear, according to Briggs & Stratton, the company that makes lawn mower engines and is campaigning to get more homeowners to tune up their mowers this year. Out of the estimated 66 million mowers in the U.S., fewer than half are tuned up annually.

Homeowners may not realize the importance of tune-ups because they don't know that this easy maintenance can make a mower start more easily, run better and even preserve its life. And, as an added environmental bonus, a tune-up can cut mower emissions by up to 50 percent.

It's not time consuming. On a typical push mower, a tune-up takes about 30 minutes to do and includes just four steps: changing the oil, air filter and spark plug, and adding fuel preservative to the gas tank. Riding mowers may also require changing the oil and fuel filters.

In the past, changing the oil may have discouraged some homeowners.

It's important to dispose of oil properly because a single quart of oil poured down a storm drain can contaminate a million gallons of water, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. If poured on the ground, oil contaminates the environment and eventually enters the groundwater as a pollutant.

Fortunately, disposal has become a lot easier. Briggs & Stratton, the largest maker of small gas engines for outdoor power equipment, has created a solution to that dilemma.

The company offers tune-up kits and an easy, free way to recycle used oil. To find the nearest recycling location, you can visit www.mowertuneup.com. The site also offers a "how to" video.

The tune-up kit for a typical walk-behind mower costs less than $10 and includes oil, a spark plug, an air filter and fuel preservative. Riding mower tune-up kits are also available. By providing the dealer oil-recycling solution, the company hopes to encourage homeowners to tune up their mowers as an environmentally responsible action anyone can do.

A tune-up is something every homeowner can perform. Small actions like this can make a big difference for the environment.

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