CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Division of Public Health is offering a rebate program to Cuyahoga County residents who scrap a gas lawnmower to get an electric one. 

What You Need To Know

  • Cleveland's Division of Public Health is offering a rebate program for Cuyahoga County residents to scrap a gas lawnmower and purchase an electric one

  • Michelle Amato lives on Cleveland’s west side and took advantage of the limited program

  • Amato’s father-in-law, William Amato, said he cuts the lawn for her and now uses the new electric mower

  • The city said the program is limited to only 200 spots and will return next year after spots are full

William Amato said he’s still learning to operate his daughter-in-law’s new electric lawnmower.

“I’m pretty familiar with the lawns, lawn maintenance ... and I love doing it and it’s supplemented my income when raising my family,” said Amato.

He said his family has been there for him following the loss of both his wife and son.

“Once my son passed away, and I lived on the east side, I did come over here, and I live with my other son, who is a retired police officer,” Amato said. “I have my own suite. And so, and I’ve been helping Michelle and, you know, and the kids. So I’m happy to do that, you know?” 

William Amato’s daughter-in-law, Michelle Amato, purchased the lawnmower through the electric lawnmower rebate program run by the city of Cleveland. 

Christina Yoka is the Chief of Air Pollution Outreach for the city of Cleveland. She said the Cleveland Division of Air Quality has been working with Ohio EPA, the Northeast Ohio Air Wide Coordinating Agency and other agencies to offer Cuyahoga County residents a $100 rebate gift card for the purchase of an electric lawnmower, if they agree to scrap a gas-powered one.

Yoka said they put the program in place to help reduce ozone pollution in Cleveland.

“We are currently not meeting the federal standard for ozone,” Yoka said. “Cleveland and Cincinnati are two cities within the state of Ohio that don’t meet the federal regulations.”

Yoka said she believes ozone levels will go down as more people choose to go green with their lawn care equipment.

“Gasoline powered lawn mowers, weed whackers and other type of lawn equipment, they don’t have any type of emission controls on them,” Yoka said. “What that means is that when they’re burning the gasoline or oil, if you have to mix oil with it, there’s nothing filtering out those emissions.”

Both William Amato and Michelle Amato said they love their new electric lawn mower because it’s very light and does not require mixing gas and oil. The program is limited to 200 spots, but the city said it will return next year after those spots are filled.

For more information on the program, click here.