Our love of nature underpins everything the CJs team does for clients. Creating spaces that attract wildlife and enhance the ecology of an area is all in a day’s work.
Most recently we have started to transform our own business by transitioning to battery-powered tools. Battery-powered options have been on the market for a while, but as a small, family-run business we need to be sure we invested in tools that can stand up to the rigours of our work and be reliable. To ensure we made the right decisions, Claire has been doing her research.
In this article we’ll share some of what we learned and how it has influenced our buying decisions.
Climate change is here, and given the soaring temperatures in the UK and Europe during recent weeks, even those deep in denial of the problem must surely realise – something is going on with the world’s climate and we all need to take action.
As Aristotle once said, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. To us, that means if everyone made lots of small changes, the impact could be huge!
Over the last decade the performance of battery-powered garden tools has significantly improved. In the early days the options were limited and we would have had to compromise on quality.
Petrol garden tools are thought to account for up to 45% of all off-road petrol emissions. What’s more, if you look at the results of scientific tests, it’s been proven that emissions from petrol garden tools are by far more dangerous to the air we breathe and the atmosphere, than battery powered garden tools.
Taking this all into account, now is a good time for us to make the change, reducing our impact on the environment as we go about our day-to-day business.
Powered by lithium-ion batteries, battery-powered gardening tools are easy to start, are quieter in operation, thus reducing noise pollution, and they do not spew out toxic fumes. In fact, battery powered garden equipment has a very low output of carbon, volatile organic compounds and dangerous fine partial matter, making for a much greener pollution footprint overall.
To give you some perspective, the average battery powered lawn mower is measured at around the same level as the average domestic washing machine.
Like anything in life, when you start doing your research you quickly discover that there are always two sides to consider.
Currently the biggest problems with lithium ion batteries are in the mining for lithium, and what to do when a battery is no longer usable. As time passes more will need to be done to tackle both of these problems.
As with all new and emerging technologies there is still more work to be done but progress is being made, for example in the recycling of battery components which is starting to make inroads into reducing the pollution of dealing with spent batteries.
And with the government banning the sale of all petrol and diesel cars by 2030, we have to wonder when local governments will phase out and ban petrol-powered garden tools too.
Making conscious buying decisions is one way we can all play our part in creating sustainable changes.
When it comes to choosing a grounds and garden maintenance company to take care of your green spaces we hope that current and future customers will appreciate our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint whilst enhancing the natural environment of your home or business.
To find out more about working with CJ Garden Services, call 023 8063 2600 and speak to Claire.