The push to ban petrol leaf blowers has gained an unlikely figurehead: Cate Blanchett, the Australian actress. “Leaf blowers must be eradicated from the face of the Earth,” she said in interview in March. Her complaints have went viral on TikTok and other social networks. “It’s a metaphor for what’s wrong with us as a species,” Blanchett said. “We move shit from one side of our lawn to the other, and then the wind just blows it back!”
Her complaints about leaf blowers—equal parts funny and serious—go way back. almost 20 yearsand then the mood overtook her. Today, more than 200 local governments in the United States have restricting the use of gas equipment for lawns or providing benefits switch to quieter, less polluting power tools. The first bans dating back to the 1970sbut the trend has accelerated since 2020's pandemic restrictions, as new workers forced to work from home discovered how unavoidable the whine of their neighbor's leaf blower can be.
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“Each year, more and more communities across the country are taking action to address the shocking levels of pollution and noise from gas lawn equipment,” said Kirsten Schatz, a clean air advocate with a Colorado public interest research group called CoPIRG.
Gasoline leaf blowers aren't just annoying; they are harmful to public health. Closing windows cannot drown out their low-frequency roar, which can be louder than the World Health Organization's recommended limit of 55 decibels. up to 800 feet away. Unwanted sound may lead to high levels of stressand also disrupt people's sleep and can damage their hearing over time.
Two-stroke blower engines are also recycled harmful mixture of exhaust gases: fine solid particles, smoke-forming gasesAnd cancer-causing chemicals such as benzene and formaldehyde.. TO one ratingRunning a gas-powered leaf blower for an hour produces the same amount of smog as driving a car from Los Angeles to Denver.
And while lawn and garden equipment accounts for only a small portion of global carbon emissions, leaf blowers and other gas tools “have a big impact on the volume they produce based on the size of their motors,” said Dan Mabe, founder of the American Greenspace Alliance, a group that works with cities and landscapers to switch to electric equipment. Lawn and garden equipment powered by fossil fuels were released in the United States in 2020. more than 30 million tons of CO2more than the city of Los Angeles' emissions
Cities and states across the country are taking different approaches to addressing the problem. A California law banning the sale of new gas leaf blowers took effect last January, while cities like Portland and Baltimore are phasing out their use. In some places, such as Wilmette, Illinois, introduced seasonal restrictionseither permanently or until a complete ban comes into effect. Others, like Colorado, are trying to make the purchase of electric lawn care equipment easier by offering 30 percent discount.
However, implementing the bans is proving more difficult than many expected. Many communities are frustrated that the new rules are not being properly enforced, said Jamie Banks, founder and president of Quiet Communities, a nonprofit that works to reduce noise pollution.
Westport, Connecticut, has struggled for years to obtain seasonal restrictions on gas fansonly to discover that local officials were not enforcing it, Banks said. Noise complaints are not high on police priority lists, and sometimes regulations are written in ways that make them difficult to enforce—for example, police are not typically expected to go around a city and measure noise levels. Some communities are taking a conscious approach to this problem: Banks pointed to a group of cities in the Greater Chicago area, including Wilmette, that trying to create a consistent policy throughout the region and working with local police.
Additionally, replacing gas leaf blowers with electric ones is not as easy as it seems. While the costs are comparable for homeowners—you can purchase electric leaf blowers at a big box store like Home Depot for about $200 or less, which is cheaper than most gas blowers—electric leaf blowers are more expensive for commercial landscapers. They require multiple batteries to keep workers going throughout the day. While a typical professional gas fan is running US$550similar electric costs 700 US dollars and demands thousands of dollars' worth of batteries. Landscapers also have to buy hundreds of dollars of charging equipment and find ways to charge it safely on the road.
Additionally, it can be difficult to meet customer expectations with electric leaf blowers, which are less powerful than gas blowers. “If you have clients that are demanding that you start from scratch, and you better do it quickly and not charge me too much money, that's really difficult,” Banks said.
The bans have already sparked a political backlash in some Republican-led states. Texas And Georgia passed laws prohibiting local governments from regulating the use of gas leaf blowers. The Western States Petroleum Association, an oil industry group, launched messaging campaign targeting Latinos in California this is against laws regarding the electrification of vehicles and blowers. But leaf blowers aren't just a lightning rod for the culture war; in some places they lead to personal conflicts. In Evanston, Illinois, a suburb north of Chicago, several landscape workers claim they were persecuted people reporting violations of the local ban.
The American Green Space Alliance noted in a recent statement that “a strict ban on gas-powered leaf blowers could inadvertently create stress and hardship for workers who often work for low wages and with limited benefits or control over their working conditions.”
Although there are still many details to be worked out, the organization is still pushing for the transition to electricity for lawn care. “We're trying to convince our industry, 'Look, we need to speed this up,'” Mabe said.
The Alliance advocates for incentives sufficient to make new equipment affordable to landscape businesses operating on razor-thin margins. (After all, the lower fuel and maintenance costs of electric leaf blowers can save companies money if the equipment is properly cared for, Mabe said.) Seasonal bans on gas leaf blowers in some places may be more feasible than year-round bans because they leave little time for fossil fuel-powered devices to be used in the spring and fall for heavy-duty cleaning jobs.
Another solution: Clients can relax their expectations and accept a scattering of leaves instead of demanding a perfectly manicured lawn. “If this aesthetic was more relaxed, it might help make a difference,” Banks said. “Maybe they won’t have to carry as many batteries.” Leaving a few leaves on the ground is good, at least from an environmental point of view: rotting leaves fertilize the soil and shape protective layer which provides shelter for snails, bees and butterflies.
And of course, in many cases, a leaf blower isn't necessary at all: you can do as Blanchett suggests and take matters into your own hands. with a good old rake.
