Lately, I've been showing you ways to go green without spending money, since being eco-friendly isn't always about dollar bills. Sometimes, though, all it takes to get into the earth's circle of friends is to spend your money differently.
Google knows what I'm talking about. The Internet monster has switched up its lawn maintenance routine by abandoning a lawn-mowing service for a more holistic approach — the service of goats. To trim the fields at its Mountain View, CA, headquarters, Google has hired the folks at California Grazing to bring about 200 goats and goat-herding border collies to the office for a week to clear weeds and eliminate brush-fire hazards. The service costs about the same as mowing, curbs air and noise pollution (except a few bahhhhs), and eliminates gas usage. Would you consider doing the same at your home?
Source
Casa Verde: Google Rents Goats For Lawn Mowing Alternative
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1um No. Our homeowners association has rules against livestock on the properties. This would not fly with them at all.. but then again we live in the desert and we don't have very many lawns around here.
2Goats are kind of cute.
3I have always wanted a goat for that reason.
4my college does this
http://media.www.thecampanil.com/media/storage/paper936/news/2001/09/20/...
They got in trouble with the teamsters, because the teamsters had a contract with the school.
"In July, a Teamsters local in Oakland, Calif., protested Mills College's use of goats to clear brush on its land. Since the union has a contract with Mills, a Teamsters official said the college should either replace the goats with its members, or unionize the goats. "
5Maybe it's because I grew up in the country, but I'd much rather wake up to the sound of a small herd of goats bleating than the weed whackers and leaf blowers of the apartment maintenance crew.
6One of the Targets in my former town did this with their green space by the store. It would be fenced off every so often and they'd have goats there for about a week.
7My fiance's small rural hometown does this. They've been doing it since before motors were invented and never thought to change their ways. It would be awesome, but no farm animals in city limits.
8Cool.
9Yes. But wouldn't I have to SUPERVISE the goat?
10That is genius!
11That is awesome!
12I hate the sound of lawn mowers SO much and the only solution I had known of until now for that was electric lawn mowers. So cool. I want to see the border collies in action- that would be so neat =)
13Hahahahhaha my parents have two Nubian goats but they don't eat as much grass as you would think.
14What about the grass-eating goat output? Does this service come with waste removal?
15my family has some property in the country that had gotten really overgrown, so we kept some pet goats for a few years and they definitely ate EVERYTHING in sight. talk about clear-cutting!! it got expensive with feeding them and vet visits and getting them "fixed," so I would not recommend getting goats unless you are up for a committment--but renting them is a great idea!!
16I love the idea. specially for companies or people with very large lawn areas. in my neighborhood my house backs up against a very large span of land that is a part of the area my association cuts...unfortunately they tend to do it at 630 or 7am on friday or saturday morning (usually one of those days I get to sleep in). I wish they'd use goats! lol
17I'm one of those who approves "employing" goats to serve as lawn mowers. But I wonder, how about the flowers, herb, vegetable plants nearby? They're gonna eat that too! Just curious...
Jean Ma
18http://www.yardworkerz.com
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