[Photo above: Me mowing our Lawn--and enjoying it for the first time ever.]

Does mowing your lawn with a gasoline-powered lawn mower drive you crazy? The noise. The exhaust fumes. Having to lug noxious chemicals around. Scaring the family dog. Well, there is a cure in site. If you can afford the extra up-front cost, a battery-powered cordless or a plug-in lawn mower might work for you.

Given the choice, we opted for a battery-powered beauty from Neuton Power (NeutonPower.com), the Neuton CE–5, retailing for $399.00. The Neuton's sleek green body and super-cool lizard logo-tires make it the most stylish grass-mower in the neighborhood. But spending your entire time trimming your lawn in relative peace, enjoying the smell of cut grass only--is priceless.

If you live in Ventura County or Los Angeles County, you are in luck--these two counties have air-quality control agencies that run programs to provide huge discounts when you trade in your old gas-guzzling, stinky lawn mower and opt for a quiet, stink-free mower. Ventura County's trade-in program lets you pick either the Black & Decker corded or cordless lawn mowers or the Neuton CE-5 or the CE-6 (a larger mower). We ended up paying only $89 for our lawn mower, with free shipping--and we got rid of the old machine that was simply taking up space (your trade-in mower does not have to be in working order). The Neuton mowers were more highly rated and by far the most stylish, so it was an easy choice.

Thanks, Stan Cohen at the VCAPCD for making the process so easy, and thanks, Ventura County, for doing a beautiful thing to promote clean air, one green lawn mower at a time!