Leaf Blowers Blow and Need to go!

Spring has sprung and unfortunately so has landscaping season (AKA leaf blower season) here in my Long Island town. The increased birdsong will soon be drowned out by loud machines revving and whirring as they clean up virtually nothing since everything was blown away and carted off last winter. Still, this is the cycle here in suburbia and I am wondering why on earth we are still putting up with this?

If you follow this blog you know that I live in a commercial area so there is a fair amount of noise on any given day. Trucks, cars, machinery, tools, etc. and I also live pretty close to a major airport so we have planes coming by as well. However, none of that compares to the cacophony of gas leaf blowers that I experience multiple times per week from March to January every. single. year. And nothing else is as maddening. The first issue is the noise, which varies in intensity depending on which one of my neighbors is having their property serviced. In all cases, the leaf blower noise is loud enough to disrupt conversations INSIDE my home as well as my daughter’s remote classes. When the landscapers are next door, they sound like they are in my house! Of course, when we are outside, the noise is unnerving and we are usually forced to run inside. The second issue is the air pollution. Have you ever been sitting quietly in your backyard only to have a bunch of dust, leaves, litter, and God knows what else blown up into your face over the fence? I have. I always think about my baby shower many years ago. A pleasant afternoon with friends and a table full of food and desserts that got blasted with dust and debris from the landscapers next door who maybe didn’t know or likely didn’t care that there were people on the other side of the fence. This lack of disregard and disruption is what I think about when people say a ban will cause hardship on landscaping companies. Well, what about the hardships faced by residents? What about all the people that live, work and breathe in this community and pay their taxes and can’t even sit outside in their backyard without an onslaught of noise and pollution? There is a concept of ‘quiet enjoyment’ written in virtually every town code that states that people have a right to enjoy their property and not be disturbed by excessive noise. This is why we have noise ordinances. If I went outside and screamed loudly for 30+ minutes and threw dust and litter everywhere, people would be very upset, someone might even call the police, yet leaf blowers scream several times a day for 44 weeks in a row and it is completely normal? No, it’s not.

I have put up with this noise for many years but I am fed up, and I am now in the process of trying to get some kind of ban or restriction on gas leaf blowers in my town. I started a group on Facebook to mobilize around this issue, I’ve written to my elected officials and encouraged others to write to them too, I’ve provided lots of information and I am planning to attend my town’s next public meeting to raise this issue. I am completely determined to not spend one more year inhaling fumes, dust, herbicide and pesticide residue, animal feces, and all the other contaminants that are kicked up by gas leaf blowers and I will not be held hostage by noise, which is just as detrimental, especially to children. I am just at the beginning of this endeavor and it will probably be an uphill battle though there are several people in my community that have shown interest in this cause because they, too, are suffering through this landscape maintenance disaster year after year. Every community deserves to have some level of peace and public health should be at the forefront, not the interests of landscaping companies.

Here in my state, New York, two bills have been introduced to ban gas leaf blowers from May to September and several towns have put restrictions and bans in place. Most legislation so far only bans gas leaf blowers but allows electric leaf blowers, which are a viable alternative. There are commercial grade electric blowers and these are less noisy, pollute less, and are less expensive in the long term due to the lack of maintenance, parts, oil, and gas needed to keep them running. Ultimately, a rake or a broom is the best option. Better yet is to leave the leaves and not be so fixated on neatness that you feel the need to blow everything away. The outdoors is not the indoors. Wildlife needs some leaves and yard “debris” to overwinter in, nest with, and find bugs in, and the soil benefits from having leaves and grass clippings break down. Before hiring a noisy landscaping company, please consider whether your desire for perfection and convenience is worth causing air pollution and frayed nerves for your neighbors and wildlife.

If you are interested in calling for a gas leaf blower ban in your town, look for other groups nearby who are devoted to this issue and talk to their founders. Write to your elected state and local officials. Post in local groups and get a group together to write letters and attend town board meetings. Many towns across the nation have done all of these things and are now enjoying bans and restrictions that are making their communities a little more peaceful and less polluted.

If you live in NY state, click on the links below to view and vote on the bills that seek to ban gas leaf blowers.

S1113- https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/s1113

A5375- https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/A5375

Are gas leaf blowers an issue in your town? Comment below. Like and Share!