| Forget blower vacs, tiresome brooming and raking…the Green Sweep from Aerosweep is a non-mechanical, tow-behind debris collector that cleans up the opposition… B rooms and rakes are fine for domestic driveways and back gardens — but professional greenkeepers and superintendents have to clean some very large areas! The Green Sweep, developed and manufactured by Melbourne company Aerosweep, is a simple and fast alternative to time-consuming sweeping practices, and is highly effective in removing leaves, sticks, stones, cigarette butts, sand, bird droppings and other waste from all turfed areas, including golf greens. There are no other products like it on the market.
The genius of the Green Sweep lies in its uncomplicated and non-mechanical design. It is essentially a large mat that that relies on friction and motion to pick up debris.
It works by being dragged across a surface, picking up and storing waste material as it goes. While the Green Sweep can be hand-pulled, it is most effective when towed behind a small utility vehicle or tractor.
According to Aerosweep sales and marketing spokesperson, Brook Tozer, the Green Sweep has been marketed internationally since its Australian release this year. Now patented worldwide, the design is based on technologies featured in numerous other commercial Aerosweep products; these sister products include the FOD (Foreign Object Debris) Boss, which is used to clear aircraft runways. Clients include NASA, RAAF, Boeing, RAF and US military installations across the globe. The Green Sweep is, therefore, based on a design that has passed some fairly extensive field testing.
Creating friction
Best of all, the Green Sweep can be used by just about anyone. “As the sweeper is pulled across the surface, it creates friction between it and the debris,” says Tozer. “The friction agitates the debris from the surface and then scoops it up and holds it in a retaining mesh cover.”
Waste disposal is an equally manageable task. “The debris is removed by simply shaking it out the same way it went in,” explains Tozer. “You tow the Green Sweep to an out-of-the-way area, or to a point where the debris can be collected easily (this could be a garden bed, or the rough in the case of a golf course) or just a collection point on an athletics track or sports field.
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“At the back of the mat are two ‘shake straps’. Simply pick it up by these, and shake. The mesh cover can be removed for cleaning purposes, but this is not necessary for emptying.”
Applications are as diverse as users’ imaginations. Green Sweeps can be used to pick up litter, leaves, etc, at school sporting grounds, civic reserves, racetracks, golf clubs, bowls clubs…and any other locations where leaf litter and similar debris are unwanted.
“For example, Mollymook Golf Club, in central NSW, uses the Green Sweep to collect debris from tees and greens and as a final ‘rub’ on top dressing,” says Tozer. “Some sports clubs have a number of Green Sweeps which they use on tennis courts, bowling greens, golf greens and tees, car parks and paths. It is also great for collecting litter such as cigarette butts from asphalt or concrete surfaces.”
The benefits of the Green Sweep over and above more expensive mechanical devices are clear: Green Sweeps are non-motorized, have no moving parts, are virtually maintenance free, involve no rotating brushes and are lightweight. They roll up for easy storage and can be carried by hand without fuss. Furthermore, cleaning tasks can be carried out without the irritating noise of blower vacuums and similar machines that can interfere with the decorum of open space activities.
Other products in the Aerosweep range have also won fans in the turf industry. A smaller version of the Green Sweep, known as the Aussie Clean Sweep, is a hand operated sweeper sold throughout Australia, Asia, America and Europe. It is popular with greenkeepers, for instance, who wish to remove bird droppings quickly from localized areas of greens. It is also well established as a tennis court cleaner. Another product known as CitySweep is ideal for cleaning large bituminized or concreted areas. For more information on the Green Sweep visit www.aerosweep.com .
Story by John Power |
