Rethink unnecessary actions

By Ron Moore

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As a young boy, I made good money mowing neighbors' lawns. I saved the income at a local savings and loan for college. I was glad that lawns needed mowing.

One customer had me mow weekly whether the lawn needed it or not. The rest had me wait until it grew high enough to be unsightly.

Today, I have an electric push mower and mow only when my lawn begins to look scraggly.

But driving around town, I see a new enterprise of commercial lawn care businesses, their big motorized equipment mowing even modest-sized lawns on a schedule, regardless of need. Also, other homeowners do the same for themselves. Some even mount farm implement-sized mowers and spend hours each week or so mowing.

What mindset compels one to cut grass that doesn't need cutting? Property owners are obviously proud of their homes, and giving extra care is certainly better than allowing neighborhood blight. It is more than lawns, of course. It is landscaping and flowers and a well-maintained home.

I am not discounting the efforts of those eager to make Cedar Rapids a “Parlor City,” a name still relevant even though it is now the “City of Five Seasons.” But this result goes far beyond frequent and unnecessary mowing.

As I walk the trails and enter our parks, I see city parks employees mowing grass where I can't tell any difference between mowed and unmown. It seems poor management to allot time for the unnecessary rather than the necessary in our extensive parks system. I feel certain that there are many important improvement and upkeep projects to do if employee time was available.

Are there better uses of our income than hiring a lawn service? Are there better uses of our time than cutting grass that hasn't grown yet? Are our life decisions overly influenced by habits?

We can change. We can do better.

Ron Moore of Cedar Rapids is a risk management consultant and a former school board member. Comments: reugenemoore@gmail.com