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Google Mows With Goats

Posted by samzenpus on from the google-goats-gruff dept.

Kelson writes "Google's Mountain View headquarters has fields that need to be kept clear of fire hazards. This year instead of mowing them, they took a low-carbon approach: they hired a herd of goats to eat the grass for a week. 'It costs us about the same as mowing, and goats are a lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers,' wrote Dan Hoffman."

7 of 466 comments (clear)

  1. Excuse Me But... by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Excuse me but, don't goats emit carbon in the form of CO2 just by breathing - and methane by farting?

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    1. Re:Excuse Me But... by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Net-zero carbon output. Fossil fuels release CO2 that has been trapped for quite some time. Goats are releasing CO2/methane that was recently stored as energy in grass.

    2. Re:Excuse Me But... by Walkingshark · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Same as the trucks that transport the lawnmowers to the field.

      --
      The world you experience is only a close approximation of reality.
  2. Side Effects? by mlingojones · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Google employees no longer have to worry about tall grass during fire drills!

    ...now, they have to worry about goat shit.

  3. Still less CO2 than mowers. by wiredog · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Or brush fires.

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  4. Sounds Like An Awesome Business Plan by phantomcircuit · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So let me get this straight, not only does the owner of the goats get to feed them for free but Google will actually pay them for the right to eat their grass?

    Where can I sign up?

  5. Re:How were they transported? by TheFlyingBuddha · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Except odds are some outside landscaping company normally gets hired to mow the lawn every X amount of time, and brings their equipment with them.