Blown Away or "Leaf Me Alone"

With the polarization ripping this nation apart, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, not to mention the Chinese and Russian efforts to foster an entirely different, anti-American new world order, it’s hard to turn towards more mundane annoyances that stem from our elevated standard of living. But every autumn, beyond the magnificent beauty that brings “leaf peepers” attracted to venues like New England or the Great Smokey Mountains, there’s the common homeowners’ plaintiff cry: “I’ve got to get those damned leaves off my lawn and the driveway and clear out my gutters before the next rain.”

Many used to hose-wash those rotting leaves into the streets, until someone reminded us of a severe water shortage in many parts of our nation. Ah, but then someone figured out that with a little fixing, those backpack power sprayers, used to apply insecticide and liquid fertilizer, could be souped up and turned into leaf blowers. However, those gasoline powered leaf-purgers brought with them lots of new problems. Massive pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and intolerable noise, from which there seemed to be no escape.

As Kate Yoder, writing for the October 25th Grist.org, tells us: “The California Air Resources Board has estimated that operating a gas-powered leaf blower for an hour emits as much smog-forming polluting as driving a Toyota Camry from Los Angeles to Denver. How is that even possible? Many leaf blowers use a wildly inefficient ‘two-stroke’ engine, which mixes oil and gasoline and spits out as much as a third of that fuel as unburned aerosol. The outdated design is cheap, powerful, and really loud and dirty.” Government studies show clear evidence of the harm of those nasty engines.

Air Pollution: A September 2015 EPA Study - National Emissions from Lawn and Garden Equipment, examining available data from heavily populated states - reported: “In 2011, approximately 26.7 million tons of pollutants were emitted by GLGE [gasoline-powered lawn and garden equipment (GLGE)]… accounting for 24%−45% of all nonroad gasoline emissions. Gasoline-powered landscape maintenance equipment (GLME; leaf blowers/vacuums, and trimmers, edgers, brush cutters) accounted for 43% of VOCs [volatile organic compounds] and around 50% of fine PM [particulate matter]. Two-stroke engines were responsible for the vast majority of fine PM from GLME. State data (California, New York, Texas, Illinois, and Florida), 2018 projections, and additional comparisons are presented. Methodological issues are discussed. Conclusions: GLGE accounts for a major portion of US nonroad gasoline emissions.”

Noise pollution: “A report - Characteristics of Lawn and Garden Equipment Sound: A Community Pilot Study – a December 2017 paper published by the National Library of Medicine (of the National Institutes of Health, examined the noise component of gasoline-power leaf blowers: “More than 11 million gas powered leaf blowers (GLB) operate in the US. Most are powered by inefficient 2-stroke engines. The noise is intolerable to some and many communities have enacted ordinances restricting their use… In a field experiment with 2 leaf blowers and a hose vacuum, the time averaged A-weighted dB(A) (LAEQ) and un-weighted dB (LEQ) metrics, and low, mid, and high frequency GLB sound components were evaluated at intervals out to 800 feet from point of operation (centroid). Sound levels at 50 feet for each GLB were consistent with manufacturer ratings. The sound from the 2 GLBs and hose vacuum exceeded 100 decibels for both LEQ and LAEQ at the centroid. At all distance intervals, LEQ was 11.2–12.5 decibels higher compared with LAEQ. With the exception of the high frequency dB, all sound metrics emitted from this equipment were found to exceed WHO outdoor daytime standards (55 dB) up to 800 feet away from the centroid.” In short, the noise level of these gasoline-powered leaf blowers is dangerous to your health. As Kate Yoder tells us, “[Every] 5-decibel increase in the average daily noise level around people’s home leads to a 34 percent increase in heart attacks and strokes, according to Harvard research in 2020.”

Yoder further interprets the data and community reactions: “[Restrictions] on leaf blowers have been spreading across the country, permitting some lucky locales to experience the season as nature intended, at a humane decibel level... Outright bans on the gas-powered machines have recently taken effect in Washington, D.C.; Miami Beach, Florida; and Evanston, Illinois. California will end the sale of gas-powered blowers next summer. Their hum will also be silenced in Portland and Seattle in the coming years. Barring a sudden acceptance of lawns scattered with leaves, rakes and battery-powered devices will slowly replace them.

“Long the dream of noise-sensitive people everywhere, bans started taking off after pandemic lockdowns in 2020 forced office workers into their homes. Stuck in their neighborhoods all day, people discovered the beauty of birdsong, along with a newfound loathing for the whine of the leaf blowers… Communities that had tried and failed to get restrictions on the devices are now starting to see success, said Jamie Banks, the co-founder and president of Quiet Communities, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing noise pollution: ‘There’s a lot more consensus around doing something about it.’ Today, more than 200 towns across the United States have restrictions on leaf blowers in place, though many just put limits on what hours or times of year people can operate them… ‘I definitely think people underestimate the risks,’ said Michael Brauer, a professor of public health at the University of British Columbia…

“[The millions of] leaf blowers roar into action every year, obliterating delicate debris with 200-mile-per-hour winds… [Electric alternative?] To be sure, swapping gas for electric blowers isn’t as simple as it might sound. Landscapers have adopted a business model that allows them to go from house to house quickly — a job that can drain batteries fast, meaning that some workers need to be swapping batteries out two or three times a shift. ‘It’s going to take more time for them to do the same job,’ Banks said. ‘So either the customer pays for that extra time, or they relax their aesthetic expectations and say, ‘OK, just do a cursory cleanup, but we can live with leaves on the ground.’ And electric lawn tools still have a long way to go: In California, even with all the bans on gas-powered tools, they make up about 6 percent of the equipment used by lawn care workers.”

So, are we at least headed in the right direction? In blue states and towns, we are making progress. But there is a major “anti-climate change” red state pushback that wants to see a reversion to using fossil fuels and an aversion to alternative energy. For example, GOP Georgia “Governor Brian Kemp signed a law prohibiting local governments from regulating gas-powered leaf blowers differently from battery-powered ones. It mirrors laws in dozens of states that prevent cities from restricting natural gas hookups in new buildings.” Yoder. It’s hard to believe, particularly given the significant climate change-related devastation in so many red states, that climate change marginalization or denial remains official Republican policy.

I’m Peter Dekom, and noting that we need to address our proclivity to allow if not foster equipment that clearly pollutes, Mother Nature really does not care what the political agenda of climate change deniers might be; she will simply follow the laws of physics as she always has.