Professional mower introduces grass-removal tool that outperforms power tools: ‘(It’s) faster, it’s quieter’

Lawn mowers and other gardening equipment are a sneaky and ubiquitous source of air pollution. Many of these devices guzzle huge amounts of gas, releasing harmful pollutants in the process. That’s why one content creator made it his mission to show other gardeners the wonders of an old-fashioned tool that’s underutilized in today’s world: the scythe.

The scoop

YouTuber Slåttergubben (@slattergubben6702), also known as Janne Wester, is a professional mower in Sweden. He describes his mission by writing: “As a professional mower with a passion for birds and biodiversity, my mission is to teach anyone who wants to how to mow and how to have a positive impact on the world we all share!”

Slåttergubben — which means “the reaper” in Swedish, according to Google Translate — recently made a short video explaining some of the benefits of mowing instead of relying on power tools.

“Maybe you have an area like this where the grass grows high near the house and you want to clean it up a bit and make it look nice and aesthetically pleasing,” says Slåttergubben. “… Many people tend to use brush cutters or trimmers for this type of work, but the scythe is actually faster, it’s quiet and it’s very easy to collect the grass afterwards.”

How it works

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “off-road gas-powered equipment, such as lawn mowers and leaf blowers, emit an estimated 242 million tons of pollutants annually,” the Portland Press Herald reported. That figure puts them surprisingly on par with cars and homes, though they tend to get much less attention.

Using traditional, non-electric tools where possible is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint when doing gardening work, especially, as Slåttergubben points out, when traditional tools work just as well or better.

Slåttergubben isn’t the only one using a scythe. Another internet content creator also recently made a video showing how he uses a scythe for landscaping projects.

What people say

Commenters on Slåttergubben’s video were practically ready to run to the fake store to get one.

“It certainly seems a lot faster than a string trimmer, and it doesn’t constantly leave shreds of plastic in your yard,” one wrote.

“Scythes have been used for thousands of years, I don’t see why people think they don’t work well,” said another.

“I never felt the need to own a scythe, but since watching a few of your videos I want one now,” added a third.

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