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Here’s How Many Bugs You’re Killing Every Time You Mow Your Lawn

A new study found unmowed meadows support far more insects than recently mowed ones, but leaving even part of your lawn wild can help.

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Are you ready for a little melodramatic news framing? How about this: every time you mow your lawn, you’re taking thousands of lives, essentially making yourself a mass murderer. Over the top? Absolutely. Incorrect? Not really, at least according to researchers whose findings were published in the journal Ecological Solutions and Evidence.

Their study found that mowing significantly cuts down the number of insect communities living in your lawn. To help you figure out how much damage you’re doing to your lawn, the researchers even built a free online Insect Calculator that estimates how many bugs are living in a patch of........

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