Leaf blowers noisy, polluting

This fall we’ve enjoyed the most colorful fall foliage in years. Contemplative walks, watching wind-blown leaves fly through the air, the crunch of drying leaves underfoot, children outside delighting in the changing season … only to be disrupted by the smell and roar of leaf blowers.

In the New York Times on October 25, 2021: “The First Thing We Do, Let’s Kill All the Leaf Blowers,” Margaret Renkl notes these machines emit carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide and carcinogenic hydrocarbons. She references a 2011 test conducted by Edmunds’ InsideLine.com, an automotive enthusiast resource, which found a two-stroke gasoline-powered leaf blower emits more pollution than a 6,200-pound Ford pick-up.

In James Fallows’ substack piece on October 2, 2021: “Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers, the End is Nigh,” “Pound for pound, gallon for gallon, hour-for-hour, the two-stroke gas powered engines in leaf blowers and similar equipment are vastly the dirtiest and most polluting kind of machinery still in legal use.” Those who use them breathe toxic emissions and damage hearing, even when wearing specialized ear protection equipment.

The spring 2021 Audubon magazine notes the impact of these machines on birds. And more studies show the link between gas emissions, climate change and human health.

Over 100 cities in the U.S. have banned leaf blowers, including a Washington, D.C., phase-out effective January 1, 2022, and California requiring all small, off-road engines used primarily in landscaping, to be zero-emission by 2024.

Let’s follow the lead of forward-thinking cities and include banning gas-powered leaf blowers in the city of Spokane’s recently passed Sustainability Action Plan.

Julia Goltz

Spokane