…and that sort of low-tech Jeffersonian society wouldn’t do the job, anyway.
Low-tech living may feel non-polluting, but it isn’t. Efficiencies of scale matter; a million urbanised people supported by a few big farms produce less carbon (and do less damage to the land) than the same number of people trying to live as individual subsistence farmers.
We need to be smart to fix this. Throwing away a few centuries of technology isn’t the answer.
I don’t suffer from any unusual sensitivity to sounds, but I still hate the noise and carcinogenic stink of gas mowers.
My antique electric riding mower cuts an acre of grass on a single charge and I can hear birds whistling and deer chuffing while I’m riding it. The loudest noise is the sound of the three big blades chopping the grass itself. Our electric push mower is not a whole lot louder, although I think someone with your level of sensitivity would still need to wear hearing protection if you ever had to use one.
I had to replace the on/off switch on our corded push mower the other day. So I can tell you the maintenance requirements of such a mower: sharpen the blade twice a year (or once every two years if you’re lazy) and replace a switch every 20 or 30 years. That’s it, no oil changes, no spark plugs, no air filters, no fuel filters - oh, and you can hang it on the wall when you’re not using it.
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