Pima County offering vouchers to switch from gas-powered outdoor tools

PIMA COUNTY, Ariz. (KGUN) — Pima County's Cut Down Pollution Program is allowing residents to trade in gas-powered outdoor tools for vouchers to buy new electric ones.

"My lawn mower was getting old. I was just getting tired of putting gas in it starting it up hearing the noise," Casey Justen, who used the program said. "I thought that would be a good opportunity to upgrade my lawn equipment and you know try to save a little money on gas and help the environment out as well."

This program lets locals trade in one gas-powered lawn mower and receive $150 voucher to The Home Depot for a new electric mower.

It also allows people to trade up to five different handheld gas devices for a $50 voucher each.

"It's a win win for Pima County for sure," Pima County's Environmental Quality Program Manager Natalie Shepp said. "Each individual piece of equipment pollutes a lot more than a car. There's no catalytic converters, there's no fuel control devices. So the fuel that's burned; there's a lot of emissions coming out of these pieces of equipment so it's not great for our environment especially during the summer ozone season."

The program is going on over two years now, but recently, it has seen an increase in popularity.

So far, they have received 222 pieces of equipment.

One benefit is that as gas prices go up, new electric tools help avoid the pain at the pump. Another benefit of new tools is the cost.

"On average, electric are considerably less expensive in fact," Russell Shultz, an Assistant Manager at ACE Hardware, said. "Most of the time with the gas you are starting in the mid hundreds going all the way up to $500, $600, $700 depending on the tool you want. Electric usually starts at less than $50 and will run up to $200 is probably the most expensive."

If you are interested in trading in tools, visit the city's website to start the process.