 |
by Robert Carillio
 My name is Robert Carillio and I serve as an Ohio contact for
Noise Free America -- a national grassroots advocacy dedicated
to restoring reasonable peace and quiet to our communities through
education about the hazards of noise pollution. Noise pollution
is a very under-recognized form of pollution which takes it’s
toll on a community environmentally, economically and socially.
Of the many forms of noise pollution our group focuses on, such
as loud boom cars, motorcycles, after market exhaust systems and
more, one obvious form we have had imposed upon us in recent times
is the unabated and so often unnecessary and obsessive use of a
piece of yard equipment commonly called a “leaf blower”.
I am asking any individual or any city to consider restricting
the hours and kinds of usages of leaf blowers.
- Leaf blowers… Hmmm .. Think about this: We are talking about a piece of
machinery that has been outlawed or severely restricted in over 350 US cities.
We really can’t call them “leaf blowers” in warm weather
states because about 9 or 10 months of the year they are grass, dirt and
dust blowers.
In cold weather states, they become dirt and dust blowers for at least
4 months out of the year.
- They shoot into the air (at 150-200 MPH!) dirt, dust, allergens,
pollutants, fertilizer, lawn chemicals, and dried rodent feces – and
everyone has dried rodent feces somewhere on his property.
If you live next door to someone who
uses one of these things, you may be washing your windows and your car
twice as often as someone who does not. Naturally, this results
in excessive water
consumption.
- The motors on leaf blowers are two-stroke engines. The carbon
monoxide output from one hour of gas-powered blowing – let’s say it’s 4 yard
services working for 15 minutes each – equals a single car driven
100 miles. Los Angeles banned them because they contribute to smog. Plus,
the carbon dioxide
emissions contribute to climate change.
- Noise levels are unacceptable for most of these machines,
even the ones that toe the line near the OSHA requirement of
85 dBAs
for ear protection.
The
sound carries for blocks. Sure, there are quieter leaf blowers being
manufactured and some that do not pollute as much with fumes,
but the problem is that
leaf
blowers
do not wear out, so there are still far too many of the old models
out there continuing to spew their fumes and belch their noise
all over the
neighborhood.
Leaf blowers do nothing more than rearrange dust and dirt, so what
blows out of your yard on Monday is back on Tuesday, or your
neighbor is blowing
it out
of his yard and back into yours. And does anyone appreciate a neighbor
getting on their roof with one of these things and broadcasting dirt
and dust and
raccoon droppings into his neighbors’ windows?
- As for small landscaping business concerns, not a single yard
service in California went out of business because of leaf
blower bans, and there
is no indication
that any in the Northeast have suffered.
 I am writing this today
to ask
that this matter is discussed by residents and local environmental
groups for serious
consideration of limiting these machines to only months when
our trees shed their leaves, and ban the use of them on roofs
altogether.
I have
a bounty
of useful
and compelling information to present to councils or other
groups, in order to generate some action toward regulating uses
these
devices. And
what
a simple way to reduce local air pollution and global climate
change!
If you would like to join the growing legions of anti-leaf-blower
activists, please contact me: Robert Carillo, Noise-Free America,
riverlover33@yahoo.com.
Photo 1: Larvik, Vestfold 2006 |
|
