Leaf blowers won’t go away quietly in Conn.
But there are plenty of reasons we shouldn’t let the grass grow beneath our feet on this issue.
Only a few days of autumn remain, yet cheerful sounds of the holiday season are still commonly drowned out by the drone of gas-powered leaf blowers.
Nothing about blowers and related equipment is quiet, but the movement to ban them has been relatively hushed. That’s poised to change, as Westport concludes its first year with restricted hours on using gas-engine leaf blowers. Westport may be a Connecticut pioneer on the movement, but other states have lapped us in creating healthier environments. Palo Alto, Calif., banned gas-powered leaf blowers all the way back in 2005, and has since been followed by Miami Beach, Fla., Washington, D.C., Seattle, Wash., and Portland, Ore. Starting in July, California will forbid the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers and weed whackers.
Like everything involving the lawn equipment, though, they will not go away quietly in Connecticut. Landscapers have created an online petition to blow back against Greenwich’s efforts to limit use of gas-fueled leaf blowers in the summer. They argue that switching to electric devices is not economically feasible.
From their perspective, massive properties in the likes of Greenwich can’t be efficiently cleared off with rakes or electric devices that require frequent charges.
Leaders in Connecticut’s cities and towns are watching one another to sort out best policies. But there are plenty of reasons we shouldn’t let the grass grow beneath our feet on this issue:
Our air is dirty: A new study points to Fairfield County scoring poorly on pollutants produced by lawn equipment. A commonly cited, but revealing, data point is that a single car has to travel 1,100 miles to produce the same amount of smog as a commercial gas-powered leaf blower. Park the electric vehicle debate for a moment and remember how gas cars evolved over generations. Leaf blowers have not changed all that much since they were adapted from their original use in the 1940s to spray crops with pesticides.
All that noise isn’t good for us either: Harvard released a study that each 5-decibel increase in the average daily noise level boosts the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke by 34 percent.
Take a breath: Wonder why you’ve been sneezing and tearing up so much in the spring and fall? Consider all the pollen and mold swirling around the neighborhood, along with pesticides and animal feces. It’s not just bad for allergies, but for asthma.
Let nature run its course: There are perils to wet leaves on roads and walkways, but there are also good reasons to just leave them where they are. They provide a habitat for life forms needed for pollination, such as beetles, bees and butterflies. They also deliver nutrients back to the trees.
Three Yale School of Medicine professors wrote to Greenwich officials about the “multiple health and environmental hazards” presented by the equipment, deeming it nothing less than a “public health emergency.”
Like nature, this issue will evolve. As it does, the livelihood of the landscapers should not only be considered, but made a priority. They, more than anyone else, are exposed to the perils of this outdated practice.