Lawn & Garden Equipment Trade-In Event slated

(Newbury Park, Calif. — Aug. 27, 2025) Ventura County residents can turn in working gasoline- and diesel-powered lawn and garden equipment and receive vouchers toward new cordless electric replacements at an event in Newbury Park on Saturday, Sept. 13.

The City of Thousand Oaks and the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District (VCAPCD) are hosting the Lawn & Garden Equipment Trade-In Event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Household Hazardous Waste Facility at 2010 Conejo Center Drive. (The facility will be closed for regular collection during the event.)

Residents can bring in their old equipment to demonstrate that it starts, turn it in to be destroyed, complete an application for the VCAPCD Lawn & Garden Equipment Exchange Program and receive a voucher toward battery-electric replacement of the same type. In most cases, the vouchers will cover most of the cost of new equipment, one charger and additional batteries.

Afterward, the vouchers can be submitted to participating retailers for replacements. Current participants are Benny’s Lawnmower Shop in Moorpark, Mac’s Lawnmowers in Newbury Park, Cal-Coast Machinery and Pacific Equipment in Oxnard, Ace Hardware and West Hills Lawn Mower Shop in Simi Valley, and Ace Hardware in Thousand Oaks.

Voucher amounts range from $200 to $2,000 for each piece of equipment. Each residential address can receive up to $4,000 in vouchers.

The vouchers can be used for chainsaws, trimmers, edgers, brush cutters, blowers/vacuums, and push and ride-on mowers.

Lawn and garden equipment is a significant source of air pollution in Ventura County that negatively impacts public health. Gas- and diesel-powered tools emit nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and reactive organic compounds, all of which Ventura County needs to reduce to meet state and federal air quality standards. Gas- and diesel-powered landscaping equipment is also a source of carbon dioxide emissions, a major component of the greenhouse gases affecting the climate.

While the Sept. 13 event is only for residential equipment, the VCAPCD program also covers the replacement of commercial equipment. Businesses, nonprofit organizations, public agencies and public schools, as well as residents who can’t attend the event, can work with participating retailers and VCAPCD to submit applications, receive vouchers, turn in their old equipment and get replacement versions.

The VCAPCD Lawn & Garden Equipment Exchange is part of the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program operated in partnership with the California Air Resources Board. The Moyer program has been funding cleaner-than-required replacements for high-polluting engines and equipment since 1998.

For more information on the VCAPCD program, including eligibility, visit vcapcd.org/lawn-garden-equipment or contact Heidy Yupe at heidy@vcapcd.org or 805-303-3655. For more information on the event location, email gogreen@toaks.gov or call 805-449-7283.