For 5 years I've bagged the grass clippings from my lawn. Why? Because that's how I always did it. Now I'm realizing how silly I've been all these years.
A couple of weeks ago I posted about the VOC and having a 45 mph lawn which got me thinking about my own yard.
How can I make mowing the lawn easier?
I first thought about mowing every 10 days instead of every 7 days or sharpening the blade every month.
The next thing I did was immediately stop jumping to solutions.
Instead of "spitballing" I decided to take a Lean Six Sigma approach and look at mowing the lawn as a process instead of a job.
I started by mapping the process.
Using SIPOC diagramming and Value Stream Mapping I mapped out my process and quickly came to the conclusion that bagging the grass clippings accounted for more than 50% of the work.
I had never realized this before because I had never looked at mowing the lawn as a process before.
Next I did a little brainstorming.
I looked at the map and thought about ways to simplify the process. While thinking about easier ways to bag the grass clippings I had my "A-ha" moment. WHY do I bag the clippings?
I mentally replied the same answer I hear from most people when doing a 5 Why's....because that's what I've always done.
Mulching is a perfect alternative to bagging.
Here is a list of the biggest benefits.
- No more cost of lawn/leaf bags
- Less stopping of the mower thereby increasing flow
- I can cut any day of the week for easy scheduling (I used try to cut Thurs for Friday trash pickup)
- No lawn/leaf bags stinking up the garage
- No having to remember to buy lawn/leaf bags
- No hauling of lawn/leaf bags out to the curb
- I can cut the back and the front on different days (Since I'm not trying to make Friday trash pickup)
- Time to cut decreased by 65%
The only drawback I found was that I need to cut the grass about every 5 days as opposed to 7 days.
I've been cutting this way for about 3 weeks now and I love it. My wife K. even noted that she can't tell that I mulched instead of bagged. Now I just have to find a way to simplify picking up the dogs poop.
If you enjoyed this post please check out my entire series about "Lean for the Home"
