Wovel in a Winter Wonderland

When we bought our new house, we gained a garage and a driveway. And now that December is here, that meant finding a tool to clear the driveway of snow. But given that our driveway is relatively small (maybe 40 ft by 20?), I knew a standard snowblower would be overkill, but a regular shovel would be really bad for my back after too long. But that didn't matter, because I already knew what the solution was...

Behold, the mighty Wovel!

I won't go into too much detail about how this thing works here (check out the Wovel website for the details), but let's just say it fit all my criteria for my needs: it is green (recyclable materials construction, 100% human powered), it's efficient (I'm done with the whole driveway in less than 10 minutes without a sore back), and it's really smartly designed so it's easy to use, easy to store, and easy to maintain. In fact, the Wovel was one of Time magazine's best inventions of 2006, and word is starting to spread.

The one thing you have to change when using the Wovel is the pattern you use to remove snow. Because you're using more of a plowing motion, you release the snow straight off the end of a row, rather than off to the side like when you lift and toss with a standard shovel. But the Wovel inventors have thought of everything, because they include a short DVD intro that suggests different "Woveling" patterns that work for different sizes and shapes of driveways or patios.

Now, the Wovel costs about $120, which is more than an average shovel. And you could probably pick up an electric "power shovel" mini snowthrower for about $100. But if you factor in the power you're using, the maintenance involved in keeping a machine going, and the overall lifespan of such a thing, a Wovel is a much better investment.

So if you live in a home that doesn't have a really big driveway but enough that you feel a regular shovel isn't enough, try a Wovel. The only hard part about it is dealing with the cars that slow down when they pass by and see you using it - I'm starting to worry about someone getting into an accident on a snowy road because they were staring at me and my Wovel instead of watching where they were going!