Tuning up America's Lawn Mowers Could Save 132 Million Gallons of Gasoline

Simple Mower Maintenance Conserves Gasoline During Time of High Prices

MILWAUKEE, May 11 -- High gasoline prices have everyone digging a little deeper into their pockets this spring as well as looking for ways to conserve this valuable resource.

Homeowners can do more than they might know to conserve gasoline -- simply by tuning up their lawn mowers. If all 66 million lawn mowers in the United States were tuned up this spring, it could save 132 million gallons of gasoline at a time when high gas prices and short supply are on everyone's mind, according to engineers at Briggs & Stratton Corporation.

"Tuning up just one typical walk-behind lawn mower can save two gallons of gasoline over the mowing season," explains Cherie Burns-Boldt, manager, service marketing at Briggs & Stratton Corporation. "When you multiply that number by mower-owning households, it makes quite a difference."

"The problem is that 40 million mower-owning households -- 60 percent -- don't perform an annual tune-up or any maintenance to help their mowers run cleaner and more efficiently," she adds.

Not only does the tune-up conserve fuel, it also cuts potentially harmful emissions by up to 50 percent. "Each time you mow with a tuned mower, you can eliminate the same amount of exhaust emissions produced by driving a car 26 miles," notes Burns. "Something as simple as tuning up the family's lawn mower is an amazingly effective Earth-friendly thing to do."

Using a spill-resistant gasoline container for storing fuel also will help protect the environment. Homeowners who spill fuel when fueling lawn mowers and other outdoor power equipment release pollutants into the air. The Briggs & Stratton No Spill Fuel Can has an automatic shut-off nozzle that stops pouring when the tank is full. These fuel containers also are ventless, preventing the escape of vapors.

Briggs & Stratton, along with The National Arbor Day Foundation, is sponsoring Spring is Mower Tune-Up Time to build awareness for something as simple as tuning up a lawn mower can help the environment. For step-by-step information on how to tune up your lawn mower and learn other easy and inexpensive ways to help the environment, visit www.mowertuneup.com .

Briggs & Stratton Corporation is the largest manufacturer of small, air-cooled engines for outdoor power equipment, including lawn mowers, pressure washers and generators. Aggressive research and innovative technology have enabled Briggs & Stratton to reduce engine emissions by 70 percent since 1990. The engines are backed by an authorized service network of more than 30,000 dealers worldwide. Briggs & Stratton engines can be found powering equipment in more than 90 countries on all seven continents.