![\"Valcuvia,](\"https:\/\/www.varesenews.it\/photogallery_new\/images\/2021\/10\/caricamento-temporaneo-per-contributo-1634022428brrmlq3stpr1020o-1254203.610x431.jpg\")
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The lawnmowing of the season is usually at the end of September<\/strong>, but as the temperatures are still not very low, it may still be possible to cut the grass before the dew turns to frost, a sign that winter has come, when nature goes to sleep, as it waits for the warm weather to return.<\/p>\n Valcuvia, lessons on how to use a sickle, like our grandparents<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But anybody thinking of the sound of the strimmer or of farm equipment with its internal combustion engine should think again, as there is a growing movement in Valcuvia that would like to return to the old days<\/strong>, if only to pass on a now lost tradition, that of cutting the grass by hand: haymaking, as it was done in the past.<\/p>\n You might have noticed a group of people struggling with a metal sickle, trying to learn the right forearm, shoulder and pelvic movements to get the blade to “almost touch” the field, while maintaining the ecosystem, with stems that remain long and not pulverised by the “0.4” string or blade of strimmers that are noisy and pollute.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat’s the matter? I’m just cutting the grass; there\u2019s nothing more ecological and green than that \u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n You may well think this.<\/strong><\/p>\n The “Section for the Protection of Air, Water and Soil<\/u><\/strong>” of Canton Ticino<\/strong> (so it is an official website of the cantonal authorities) explains the extent of the pollution caused by two-stroke combustion engines. “It is hard to believe that small tools can have such a significant impact on health and the environment,” the Swiss authority writes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “And yet, a lawnmower emits the same amount of fuel as 26 cars with catalytic converters. When it comes to chainsaws and strimmers, the situation is even more critical; the emissions are equal to those of 100 cars.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n To solve a problem that is a significant source of pollution, the advice is to use an electric lawn mower, or the less polluting models with four-stroke engines. “A simple solution is to use a special, low-emission fuel called alkylate-based petrol,” the website continues.<\/p>\n Alternatively, you can learn to use a sickle.<\/strong><\/p>\n But here too, problems arise, as (and this may be hard to believe) nobody is able any more to teach how to use this tool<\/strong>, which was once so widespread in the countryside (not surprisingly, the earliest images of 20th century<\/strong>, in the masterpiece by Bernardo Bertolucci<\/strong> set in the countryside near Parma, are legendary).<\/p>\n All this is confirmed by Paola Castiglioni, the founder and activist of the association \u201cMatrioska\u201d<\/strong>, which was founded in July 2020 in Orino. Today, it boasts about fifty members, all looking for reference points that meet the real needs of the area and all with the goal of planning community development by cultivating biodiversity.<\/p>\n![\"Valcuvia,](\"https:\/\/www.varesenews.it\/photogallery_new\/images\/2021\/10\/caricamento-temporaneo-per-contributo-1634022428brrmlq3stpr1020o-1254221.610x431.jpg\")
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