{"id":283,"date":"2026-06-06T23:35:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T23:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=283"},"modified":"2026-06-06T23:35:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T23:35:05","slug":"mount-auburn-lays-gas-powered-equipment-to-rest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=283","title":{"rendered":"Mount Auburn lays gas-powered equipment to rest"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A crowd gathered at Mount Auburn Cemetery watched as James Farlowe powered on an electric weed whipper and showed off its near-silent operating capabilities, symbolizing a milestone moment for it as it became first cemetery in the United States to put its gas-powered handheld landscaping equipment to rest.<\/p>\n

Read more Lack of EV charger installations shameful<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cThey are lighter, and after a while your hand starts shaking when you use [gas-powered] tools, but these [electric] ones are different and also not as loud,\u201d said Farlowe, Mount Auburn Cemetery\u2019s assistant supervisor of turf & grounds.<\/p>\n

Weed whips, or string trimmers, were a thorny problem in Mount Auburn\u2019s move to going all-electric.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe heavy wear-and-tear made us run through batteries so quick that it just became an unrealistic way to work,\u201d said Ronnit Bendavid-Val, the cemetery\u2019s vice president of horticulture & landscape, speaking at a ceremony May 28. This problem, along with any issues workers had with using the new tools, was addressed over 18 months of concerted work and training.<\/p>\n

Now, formally, Mount Auburn has earned a Level 1 American Green Zone Alliance (AGZA) \u2018Green Zone\u2019 Certification.<\/p>\n

AGZA is a nonprofit that works to reduce emissions from landscaping by helping governments, college campuses and private contractors transition from gas-powered equipment to electric alternatives. The group offers several certifications which guide landscaping and groundskeeping crews through the process of electrifying their equipment, and it runs trainings to teach work crews how to use modern electric equipment.<\/p>\n

The cemetery worked with AGZA to scale down and replace gas-powered handheld equipment used by its work crews. Quiet Communities, a national nonprofit that works to reduce harm from noise pollution on public health and the environment, was also involved in the project.<\/p>\n

Matthew Stephens, Mount Auburn\u2019s president and CEO, said the cemetery approached AGZA several years ago, as the cemetery was trying to transition to electric equipment, which started in 2018. \u201cWhen we got into [the transition], we realized how hard it was to do it, and we also realized there was this organizing entity that certifies you for all the hard work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Jamie Banks, founder and president of Quiet Communities, \u201cThe work requirements are very different from other places that may have more open land, there are in-ground headstones, very elaborate memorials, it\u2019s just not typical landscape and it can be very challenging [to electrify their tools].\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Somerville Mayor presents 2027 budget amid layoffs fallout<\/a><\/p>\n

When Bendavid-Val joined Mount Auburn in 2022, \u201cwe had some battery-powered equipment,\u201d but she and staff members wanted to expand usage of it. <\/p>\n

Sustainability a value from the start<\/h2>\n

Mount Auburn isn\u2019t new to achieving firsts in the U.S. It was founded as the first \u2018garden cemetery\u2019 in the nation back in 1831, and it jump-started the rural cemetery movement. Stephens said the AGZA effort \u201caligns with our values . . . Mount Auburn has spent, some might say, 190 plus years reinforcing sustainability as one of our core values.\u201d<\/p>\n

Electric equipment has advantages for workers, Stephens said, including usually being lighter and quieter. \u201cSo they are easier on their ears, and there is less vibrating, so it\u2019s easier on their bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cemetery projects it will eliminate 16 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, or roughly the equivalent of the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by 660 mature trees.<\/p>\n

Rie Macchiarolo, the cemetery\u2019s director of gardens & landscapes, said the transition was pretty \u201cseamless\u201d for their crews, noting that electric equipment has improved significantly over the last decade. \u201cIt takes a little bit of coordination to make sure you are rotating batteries and getting them charged, but beyond that they\u2019re way nicer to use, not as loud, not as smelly and in general just feel better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farlowe did express concern about how the new tools would handle the fall season, because of the scale of work and the impact weather conditions can have on battery life. But, he said, \u201cas long as you keep charging up [unused] batteries, everything should go smooth. I just wish they\u2019d make the batteries a little stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bendavid-Val said Mount Auburn had invested in higher-capacity batteries to meet the demands of its electric weed whackers. It also acquired battery power stations with the capacity to charge 16 batteries simultaneously.<\/p>\n

She said the cemetery was at the \u201cedge\u201d of the industry with this undertaking, although it may soon have company, as Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn had recently asked about the process.\u00a0She said Mount Auburn will continue to adapt as technological advances are made. In the immediate future, the cemetery will work to make its fleet of almost 100 vehicles electric. Only about a third currently are, and the age of the cemetery\u2019s electrical infrastructure may mean it needs an upgrade to support converting all of the vehicles.<\/p>\n

Read more The Lorax comes to Cambridge City Council<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A crowd gathered at Mount Auburn Cemetery watched as James Farlowe powered on an electric weed whipper and showed off its near-silent operating capabilities, symbolizing a milestone moment for it as it became first cemetery in the United States to put its gas-powered handheld landscaping equipment to rest. 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