Why I Hate Leaf Blowers
I really hate leaf blowers. But since Compete to Conserve is non-partisan, I would be remiss not to provide some objective background information. “A leaf blower is an engine-powered, hand-held maintenance tool used in lieu of a rake or broom to remove leaves and debris from a lawn or garden by blowing them away.” A leaf blower is basically a high-speed fan which creates an air current up to 200 miles per hour. The air then pushes the objects in its path (i.e., leaves) in the intended direction.
Leaf blowers generally come in one of two forms: (1) the blower (used simply to blow materials); and (2) the blower/vacuum (as its name suggests, it combines the blower function with a vacuum feature, and sometimes even a mulching feature). Both forms of leaf blowers are designed as hand held units, backpacks or the “walk behind” version (mounted on wheels). The power behind the leaf blower can be electric (corded or rechargeable/battery operated) or gas.
I am not alone in my crusade, and it really is not hard to find information against leaf blowers. In my opinion, the three main arguments are:
Leaf Blowers Are Loud
Some critics of leaf blowers argue that the decibel level of a leaf blower can damage hearing. To others, it is really a matter of what time in the morning the leaf blower is first activated. Have you ever tried to get the attention of a person bearing a leaf blower if he or she was not facing you? Of the 40 million United States citizens suffering from hearing loss, 25% of the cases can be attributed to Noise Induced Hearing Loss (”NIHL”). Even one bad sound experience can lead to NIHL. Typical conversations occur at 60 decibels. Leaf blowers operate at about 115 decibels (the same as a chainsaw or rock concert). The recommended standard for permissible exposure time at that level is less than 30 seconds.
Leaf Blowers Are Toxic to the Air
Leaf blowers generate as much emissions in just one short hour as a brand-new automobile on a 350-mile road trip. Additionally, in urban settings, leaf blowers fail to single out the solitary, fallen leaf, but instead send debris, soil, dust, pollen and/or mold into a newly created swirling vortex of toxic air.
Leaf Blowers Violate Newton’s Third Law of Motion (aka Leaf Blowers Are Stupid)
In trying to promote the idea of global sustainability through conservation on an individual and accessible level, somehow I keep coming back (far too often perhaps) to Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Leaf blowers do little more in an urban setting than transfer dirt and debris from private property onto public or other private property. Newton believed that whenever two objects interact, the force directed on one must equal (but in opposite direction) the force directed at the other. When matched against the monstrous force of a leaf blower, the helpless leaf has no choice but to react, and metaphorically speaking, run to the nearest lawn or street.
Living in an urban setting, I am baffled whenever I see a leaf blower being used to move dirt from one person’s lawn to another lawn, or worse, into the street. This solitary act is the origin, and perhaps only reason, why I really hate leaf blowers. Without disregarding the importance of noise pollution and air quality, I think this most common use of a leaf blower in an urban setting is just plain stupid.
Thankfully, many cities are banning leaf blowers or limiting the hours of use. In Los Angeles, if a neighbor refuses to control a leaf blower on his or her property, residents can report a “blower in progress” by caling 877-275-5273 (make sure to select “1″, however, for non-emergent crimes). More information can be found at www.zapla.org (zero air pollution Los Angeles). ZAPLA’s mission statement is “to encourage compliance with leaf blower bans and restrictions by providing facts, opinions, and access to sources and to resources.” Happy to know these resources exist, clearly I am not alone on this position. And while I am somewhat passionate about my disliking of leaf blowers, I think treehugger.com hates them even more, calling leaf blowers a few years back the “scourge of humanity“.
For more information visit:
www.wisegeek.com/what-are-leaf-blowers.html
www.dangerousdecibels.org/hearingloss.cfm
www.treehugger.com/files/005/09/leaf_blowers_sc.php
September 8th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
American laziness and wastefulness in it’s truest form. I hope that someday everyone will read C2C blogs, they’re so great.
November 17th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
In today’s models, there are leaf blowers that are quiet, cordless, electric, gas….a different kind of leaf blower to resolve whatever your angst is against them.
November 20th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Regardless of how effective they are at their job, I don’t understand why leaf blowers have to be used before 8 in the morning. Some of us get the chance to sleep in on certain days and loud gas leaf blowers totally ruin it.
November 20th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Yeah. I have to agree. I think leaf blowers suck about as much as car alarms and souped up Harleys that set off car alarms!
December 1st, 2008 at 10:09 am
Amen Craig & Anne! Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” The leaves, dust, debris, etc… keeps coming back.
December 3rd, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Hey, I got to use one this morning! In fact, I got to use one all last week, when the temperature was between 24 and 31 degrees! They are terrible inventions. Any breeze at all makes them inferior to a rake due to the nature of a device designed to make light things airborne. Stripping away top soil and mulch, spreading crap across the yard, polluting not just the air and atmosphere for the planet, but MY AIR I’m currently breathing right that moment when I pull the trigger to emit my mighty burst of air! I have always hated leaf blowers but have a newly discovered loathing for the machines since I have been made slave to one when my job cut my hours and the only other job I could come up with this time of year, is yard clean ups. I’ve done yard clean ups on my own, with rakes, piling the leaves into my Dodge maxi van. Laugh all you want. I can fit a crap ton of leaves in there. And I don’t leave a trail of leaves behind as I drive down the road. I charge $25 less than the employer I’m leaf blowing for currently, without the noise/air pollution. Does it take me a little longer? Sure. But in the end the customer doesn’t pay more and might just save some money not having to mulch when I’m done. Having found myself doing this dreadful job both with and without blowers, I have to say, I don’t mind humping leaves with a rake nearly as much as the noise and exhaust fumes from a blower. Raking can make you live longer, blowing sucks the life right out of you. Anybody in the Portsmouth, NH area need a NON-BLOWER yard clean up?
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Josh, I don’t live in NH, but you should post your email here so people can hire you!!!! Just spell it out with spaces and “at” instead of @ so spammers can’t grab your address.
December 4th, 2008 at 2:31 am
Great information Josh. Thank you for your post.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Leaf blowers are almost as stupid as there operators. I can hear two of them right now. The term moron comes to mind. I once went to New Smyrna Beach Fl on a Sunday for a little rest and relaxation. Got my chair down to the beach and sat down to relax. Ten minutes later I couldn’t believe mt ears. Some imbecile wearing an orange vest was standing on the board walk blowing the sand off of it. On Sunday morning, on the Atlantic Ocean, in a twenty mile per hour wind! That orange vest just meant more wasted tax dollars. I’d rather give the money to AIG.
The only good leaf blower is the one used to beat the operator to a pulp! LEAF BLOWERS SUCK!
March 20th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Barry, join us in hating the machine. But step off hating the operator. My hours were cut at my job in October and I found myself trying to find any form of work I could do to earn my living. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to my finace’s friend who owns a landscaping company. He hired me on at a good hourly wage. And so, despite my distaste for leaf blowers, I strapped one to my back and got to blowing.
I feel I can comment on the subject because I have had to use one, argued the benefit of rakes and brooms, and in the end, agreed to use a leaf blower when the application was appropriate, because that is what I could do for money.
Please have some respect for intelligent skilled people who can find no work better to do than to use a leaf blower. I assure you it is not by choice but by necessity for income. You could do more for the cause of the leaf blower abolition by supporting more skilled jobs in your community; manufacturing and engineering, education. Cease to support these skilled jobs being exported to other countries! Your blanket statement and support for violent retribution against some unfortunate person that has to do that sort of work for a living, suggests that you lack th e intelligence to look at the bigger picture and have a sense of how other people live,think, and how the world operates. If you think it’s annoying to listen to a leaf blower from the comfort of your beach chair, imagine having on on your back, leaking gasoline down your legs, blowing dust and mold into your face. -JB
May 9th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Leaf blowers should be banned. I’ve been listening to one now for about 30 minutes outside, and I’m 10 stories up from the sidewalk- and I can barely hear myself think. It’s absolutely the most selfish yard appliance there is: It wrecks the peace of an enjoyable saturday afternoon reading, for the sake of some one else wrapping up their yardwork in 10% less time than a rake and broom. LAME.
There is no justifcation for this much noise- everyone within 5 blocks should be issued hearing protection. Often, I see leaf blowers clearing sidewalks, driveways which look perfectly clean to me. All leaf blowers and leaf blower operators should be shipped off to a remote island where they can live as a leaf blower people, and see how many tourists they get.
May 31st, 2009 at 5:01 am
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June 10th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Oh yes, OH YES. Right now I’ve been listening to this maintenance idiot blow a 15′x10′ patch of grass in front of the apartment he maintains for 45 minutes! Still blowing strong, still going strong. I DESPISE LEAF BLOWERS AND THE IDIOTS THAT USE THEM.
To me, it’s a way for pea-brained lawn workers to “look busy” without doing much of anything. It puts on a good show for the property owner: a guy walking around blowing mowed grass, making lots of noise and looking ‘busy’ (despite getting nothing done). Standing around, blowing lawn clippings from point A to point B–totally unnecessary waste of time, and raising dust and MAKING NOISE. Lawn boys usually have very low IQs–which exacerbates the problem because it never occurs to them that they are disturbing numerous others in immediate vicinity and destroying their own hearing.
I think the engineers who make them deliberately make them loud for marketing purposes. “If it’s loud people will notice it and want to buy one thinking it’s strong”.
My dream is to tie up a lawn boy and stick the blower in one ear and the extra loud exhaust into the other ear. And leave him like this until the blower runs out of gas. Then fill the blowers gas tank. Repeat. Fill. Repeat…..etc.., etc.
July 16th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
I just hate those guys! I live in SoCal and every F***g day before 8am those guys start “working” , and the stupid gardeners do something in the yard every day,
July 17th, 2009 at 8:59 am
OK, you people just go on hating. I don’t like leaf blowers either. BUt I did use one daily for about a month when I was unable to find other work. I generally think that most humans are inconsiderate and selfish anyways. So I’m sure in the game of hating I could find some reasons to hate you back. But life is too short. It is commonly known that the root of a psychopath is the inability to empathize with another person’s situation. I already have had to accept that I share this planet with an alarmingly large percentage of humans that would fit in this category. So welcome to the list.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Hi Josh,
Being unable to empathize with other people’s situation, as you suggest, goes both ways.
True enough, work is work when you need it. However, flipping burgers at BK doesn’t effect anyone else’s day negatively. If I stood outside your kitchen window on Sunday morning at 9am as you were sitting down to breakfast with your family, and cranked up a leaf blower for 45 minutes- I think you’d see the point. Trying to communicate with loved ones, or having a serious conversation with a significant other, or being on a conference call if home from work- are all impossible within proximity of a leaf blower. It’s highly disruptive. The noise created by leaf blowers is harmful to human relationships. Period.
All the best, Walt.
July 28th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
OK OK you Guys who hate leaf blowers, but have you tried and heard the Dolmar / Makita hand held leaf blower.It is the quietest blower on the market. You cannot hear it more than 10 yards away, and that is working at ful revs.
Go find one and listen.
October 29th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I’m sure every barely making it Yard Worker or Yard Workers’ boss is gonna go out and buy a new Dolma/Makita silent blower tomorrow for everyone…right. Those blowers are on the top of my list for totally stupid inventions.I once called the police..they irritate me so bad…we used to live across the street from a park and had an infant sleeping sound on a beautiful morning…then came the attack of the evil leaf blowers(3 reving out of sync) to ruin an entire neighborhoods calm.I watched a man navigating a cigarette butt down an already clean sidewalk for a good 15 mins. and the baby went beserk..well,it was terrible and most of all… leaf Blowers are just stupid.I agree with all comments against them.Sorry if you earn your living selling leaf blowers.
January 8th, 2010 at 9:37 am
One of the beauties of a snowstorm is the quiet. Now my neighbors have hired a snow-removal man and he uses a leaf blower to remove the snow. So the snowbound silence is reversed for several hours the morning after a snow. Snow also smells so clean. But the leaf blowers instead leave a taste of 2-stroke oil in my mouth.
Ban the damn things.
January 30th, 2010 at 10:55 am
Sorry about that TRM, but I finished using my gas powered leaf blower to clean my deck, walks and driveway in less than an hour. And probably saved my self an ambulance ride to the ER.
March 4th, 2010 at 2:41 am
The vacuum just came in. I took it out of the box, and it took all of two minutes to assemble. I ran it over the rugs of my two-bedroom apartment and it picked up everything in its path. I noticed the tank needed to be dumped more than my Hoover Wind Tunnel, but it’s a good trade-off, because once the bottom of the Wind Tunnel’s tank got full, it just gave up. What I was really looking to give it–being a pet owner–was the extreme test on my black, cloth, sofa. Unlike other vacuum’s that come with a nozzle surrounded by brushes that just seem to push the pet hair around, this comes with a turbo brush, which is like a mini version of the vacuum’s main turbo brush. It cleaned off the sofa in minutes and left it spotless.
November 16th, 2010 at 10:50 am
noticed, several weeks were a few. Well perfectly. I need it for a project, and it has the same subject as the one here. Glad, great share.
November 16th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
“George”
this thread is about leaf blowers, how does your vacuum comment fit into this discussion?
Thanks.
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January 3rd, 2011 at 5:00 pm
It’s much easier to rake leaves from grass than, say, an arboretum or English garden. In fact, it’s downright impossible in an English garden. I refuse to use any gasoline-powered yard tools - they pollute too much and the noise is awful. But the huge gathering of other people’s leaves in my yard would kill my plants if I didn’t blow them out of the yard. So my electric leaf-blower comes out. One day a year.
Once they’re in the street, I sweep them up and put them in my compost barrel.
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April 13th, 2011 at 10:35 am
I too have been struck by the stupid-insane aspect of blowing dust and leaves around from one place to another. Of course, a large number of small particles remain airborne for a while, causing suffering to people with allergies. What I hate most about leaf blowers, though, is the noxious fumes. I was just out in my garden to enjoy a few peaceful moment before I go to the office and had to come inside. Instead of the scent of jasmine, I was breathing gasoline fumes. If someone wants to do something really stupid, like blow dust and leaves from one place to another, I don’t care long as it doesn’t harm my quiet enjoyment of my home. But those damned leaf blowers are positively invasive. I would love to see them banned in cities.
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