SSC goes green – and quiet – with new electric mowers

SSC has never been content with merely providing the services contracted – we want to find innovative ways to take the next step.

Working daily in environments where curiosity and innovation bloom – kindergarten classrooms to sprawling university campuses – inspires and motivates us. These students are leading the way to a better tomorrow, and we want to help them thrive.

Over the years, we have consciously changed practices to reduce waste and chemicals in the environments we all share. We have switched to renewable and sustainable products like bamboo, used goats to maintain fire barriers in some areas, and helped our campuses retrofit their facilities to reduce water waste and maximize energy efficiency.

Now we are excited to announce the next step in this (r)evolution.

It was summer break for Charleston County Schools, administrators were in their offices preparing for the arrival of students in the coming weeks. The campus was silent.

Then, there came the grounds crew.

Everyone inwardly groans as they prepare for the earsplitting noise that comes from the necessary task of keeping their beautiful campus in top shape, but the sound never comes.

Maybe they aren’t mowing today. Did the schedule change?

Peeking out of his window, the principal expects to see someone working on the flowerbeds, but instead he sees a mower with a 48-inch deck cutting the lawn right outside his window – and it’s quiet.

More and more sites are getting to experience the joy of silence as SSC has started transitioning our fleet of mowers from gas to electric through our new partnership with Mean Green. Is your campus next?

Over the next five years, we will be adding more than 200 Mean Green electric mowers to our fleet as we transition out their gas counterparts. Mean Green Mowers is the leading commercial e-mower manufacturer headquartered in Ross, Ohio, and owned by father and son co-founders Joe and Matt Conrad.

For every mower a campus has, there are, on average, six pieces of handheld equipment our grounds crew uses as well, such as trimmers, blowers, weedeaters and edgers. We are moving those to electric alternatives, as well.

We were happy with our plans, but our custodial and maintenance departments wanted to contribute, so golf carts and club cars are also moving to electric.

In total, these changes will reduce our carbon footprint by more than 53 million pounds over the next five years. That’s the equivalent of building 51 wind turbines or planting 4 million trees and letting them grow for 10 years. This major step is sure to be one of many as our future leaders continue to inspire us.

Say hello to the new, quiet member of your staff and goodbye to the air and noise pollution.

What will SSC do next … robots? Maybe … actually, yeah, probably. Watch out for one being used on your campus soon.