Lawn Mowing the useless occupation!
I haven't always thought that Lawn mowing was a crazy idea. I spent many countless hours mowing neighbours lawns when I was a teenager. I just did it without thinking, after all that was what people did and at that time I was part of the consumer fashioned society following societies expectations. But things have changed drastically since I was kid. I have started to think for myself after I discovered that society has systematically destroyed many species, numbers of civilizations, polluted our lakes and rivers, destroyed our farm lands and poisoned the atmosphere and it seems we are not stopping at anything to maintain our consumer lifestyle!

So why do we cut the grass around our homes? After very little thought one soon notices that this the law and for no other practical reason whatsoever one must cut the grass. But Why? This is one of those democratic ideas that just is plain stupid. Everyone just decides that it would look nice to have the whole neighbourhood with cut grass despite the idiocy of the whole thing.

Not cutting the grass saves tons of energy not only in fossil fuels but human time spent mowing the lawn. I can't think of a more useless occupation.

So what can we do? I am planting white clover that only grows about 8 ½ inches tall which by law is accepted, but just as long as it does not go beyond 8.5 inches tall! In other areas that I have not yet planted White clover I have a sunshine powered lawnmower! Yes I have a recycled battery powered lawnmover (salvation army store) that is charged up by my excess electricity produced by the solar cells and windmill. (I modified the battery pack to accept a larger battery.)

Now going beyond the lawncare... what should we be doing with that area anyways? Why not grow your vegetables? There is nothing more rewarding than having a fresh tomato, carrot or parsnip that you grew yourself! It occupies time well and teaches the fundamentals of sustainable living especially when you get into creating compost and knowing what actually makes a plant grow. Knowing about gardening is real knowledge whereas knowing how to cut grass is useless trash.

Mat Redsell attempts to live a sustainable lifestyle and you may see his efforts on his website <www.continuo.com>