Cal State LA has dumped gas-powered landscaping equipment

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The turfed corners of a leafy, college campus may not bring to mind images of lung-choking plumes of air pollution.

Yet, college campuses, as well as school grounds and even Little League ballfields are being targeted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District in a cover-all-bases approach to achieving clean air.

On Tuesday, the district applauded Cal State Los Angeles’ changeover of grounds crews to all-electric equipment. The university – located just a few miles east of downtown Los Angeles and in the shadow of the San Gabriel Mountains – may be the first in the state to swap gasoline-powered lawn mowers, edgers, weed-whackers and chain saws with zero-emission, battery-powered ones.

“We are in the forefront,” said Cal State L.A. President William Covino, who had not heard of any of the other 22 CSU campuses using all battery-powered landscaping equipment.

Industry expert Dan Mabe, founder and president of the American Green Zone Alliance, said he has done a demonstration at Cal State Northridge, but the San Fernando Valley university had not yet changed over. Finally, AQMD board member Michael Cacciotti said six cities and school districts within the air district will soon change over to all-battery groundskeeping equipment.

Evergreene Lawn Care has begun mowing the ballfields of the Torrance American Baseball sports complex with battery-operated equipment, according to the American Green Zone Alliance. Likewise, the city of South Pasadena’s 10-acre Garfield Park is maintained by TruGreen Landcare, a company that uses emission-free, all-electric equipment.

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