Code Orange: Give Your Leaf Blower a Rest

Consider: It's a code orange air quality day. That means that the air is unhealthy to breathe for older people, little people and people with lung problems. Please put your leaf blower away --or ask your lawn service company to-- at least until we're back to breathable air. And you're not doing you own lawn a favor by subjecting it to superheated air on an already super hot day.

QuietDC for a Quiet DC

The Cleveland Park Listserv's iconic photo

In addition to our companion email list, the Cleveland Park Listserv, we have a smaller email group that focuses on noise issues in the District of Columbia and vicinity: QuietDC.

On QuietDC, you'll find solutions to problems with noisy neighbors, illegal pre-7am trash and recycling pickups, overly-sensitive car and house alarms, leaf blowers, barking dogs, and more. Don't let noise disturb your sleep or keep you from enjoying a quiet afternoon.

Click here to read more about QuietDC or to join this helpful email group.

TBD Poll: Should Leaf Blowers Be Banned?

Vote in TBD's poll: Should leaf blowers be banned?

On the pro side of leaf blowers: They save time and money when it comes to yard maintenance. (And some fear that banning leaf blowers is the start of a slippery slope: First leaf blowers, then lawn mowers, then cars themselves might be banned.)

On the con side: Leaf blowers damage the hearing of people who use them (even with hearing protection), they pollute, they spread pollen and bacteria into neighbor's yards, they make it impossible to enjoy autumn, and the sound penetrates neighboring houses.

American lawns thrived before leaf blowers were introduced in the 1980's. And American lawns can do fine without them. But what's your take on leaf blowers? Ban them? Keep them? Or restrict their use? Be sure to vote in the TBD poll.

More Reasons to Hate Leaf Blowers

There are lots of excellent reasons why leaf blowers should be banned, and these reasons vastly outweigh the benefit that leaf blowers offer. Leaf blowers are incredibly loud, so loud that they make it impossible to work, think, use the phone, make love, nap, or simply enjoy autumn when they're near. Leaf blowers scatter pollen, dust, and bacteria that would otherwise be washed away in the next rain. Leaf blowers especially damage the hearing of the workers who use them day in and day out. (Hearing protection isn't sufficient to prevent leaf blower induced hearing loss.)

Here are some recent observations about leaf blowers.  As you can see from the photo on the right, one person using a leaf blower decided that it would be a good idea to surround a fire hydrant with the leaves. 

In my own neighborhood a leaf blower was practicing his craft at 9:15am on Thanksgiving morning. But that was nothing compared to what this Chevy Chase, DC resident experienced last Saturday. Writing on the Chevy Chase Listserv, she reported, "At 7:15 this morning the leaf blowers started at a house on Pinehurst Circle. If I had known it was not allowed I would have reported it. I did call the agent of the house (it is for sale) to ask her to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Another Chevy Chase resident lamented, "This morning, the crew from Johnson's Landscaping began operating their gas engine leaf blower across the street at 8:15 am, an hour and 45 minutes before making noise on Saturday is legal here in Barnaby Woods. This is not an isolated incident. It woke my wife (who is ill) and my next door neighbor's infant daughter. When my neighbor and I complained, the crew was aggressive and didn't seem to care that they were violating the law."

And I almost forgot: the hot 180 mile per hour wind that leaf blowers produce is really bad for lawns. The companies that deploy leaf blowers don't want you to know that.

Good Morning: We Have Good News and Bad News

If you've missed the rain then you're in for a treat today. Chances are high --90 percent high-- that it will rain on Thursday. And probably a lot of rain: half an inch or so. Expect temperatures in the low to mid-50's, but no warmer than that.

So what's the good news you ask? The good news is that leaf blowers can't operate in the rain, so we'll be able to enjoy thoughtful reflection, a quiet lunch, and even get some work done today.

What's So Bad About Leaf Blowers? We'll Tell You

The National Society of Engineering, a part of the National Academy of Sciences, recommended last week that American become a quieter place. Not only can loud noises, such as leaf blowers, cause hearing damage, but noise can cause cardiovascular problems, mental health issues, and decreased task performance (which is to say,  you can't work while a leaf blower is going on.) Heart risks? Yes, noise can lead to heart problems. Leaf blowers are, of course, worse for people who use them hour after hour: Hearing protection is often non-existent or inadequate for yard workers.

We'll say it again: Ban leaf blowers in the District of Columbia. It makes little sense to chase a few leaves with a 180 mile per hour wind being propelled by a 70 decibel machine, when a quiet rake will do the job just as well.

Pediatricians support leaf blower bans, too. The New York Times reports:

Supporters of the bans have letters from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit that say gas-powered leaf blowers pose multiple health threats. They include spreading airborne particles, which can provoke asthma and other respiratory diseases, and potential pollutants like ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons. Hearing damage from the engine noise, and eye injuries from pebbles and twigs propelled by blowers are also cited.

Another big problem with leaf blowers is that they also often travel in herds. Sure, you can find the solitary leaf blower, but when they're in groups of two of more, the volume is off the scale.

Dr. Andrew Weil had this to say about leaf blowers:

It goes without saying (but must be said anyway), that leaf blowers pose [a] threat to the health and hearing of the untold numbers of landscape workers who use them on a daily basis, in most cases without adequate protective equipment, for intervals that far exceed OSHA guidelines. Unfortunately, the workers themselves tend to exaggerate the benefits and deny the risks of blowing leaves with machines, which they strongly favor over rakes, for reasons that probably have more to do with symbolism than practicality.

The phenomenal proliferation of leaf blowers has far more to do with marketing than efficiency; indeed, when all the real costs are factored in their alleged benefits don’t even begin to justify their penalties and risks. Cheap to produce, priced to sell, and aggressively marketed, the real function of leaf blowers is to rake in money for the huge corporations that manufacture them.

Banning leaf blowers sounds radical, but it's not. Leaf blowers are relatively new on the American scene and hardly existed before 1980. Some California communities have banned them without the world ending and the District of Columbia can, too.

Ban Leaf Blowers in DC

Once autumn takes hold, leaf blower season will be in full bloom.

It's time to ban leaf blowers.

When leaf blowers were first used, fewer people worked at home, and fewer people were disturbed by the 70+ decibel level of most gas-powered leaf blowers. That's 70+ decibels at 50 feet; it's a lot louder when you're walking right by one. When a leaf blower is in action nearby, it's hard, sometimes impossible, to think. Can you imagine a leaf blower being used in an office hallway while people are working? No way would that ever be allowed to happen during work hours.

Leaf blowers destroy the beauty of autumn.

Poll: Should Leaf Blowers Be Banned in DC?

Photo by Hillary

Vote in our poll:

Should leaf blowers be banned in the District of Columbia?

People who support leaf blowers argue that they save time and money.  Opponents of leaf blowers argue that they're noisy, they pollute and they push pollen, dog poop and other debris into neighbors' yards.

Some cities, including Los Angeles, ban leaf blowers with 500 feet of any residence. Other cities, such as Palo Alto, ban just gas-powered leaf blowers. Should the District of Columbia ban all leaf blowers, too?  Or ban the use of leaf blowers within 500 of any residence? Or just the use of gas-powered leaf blowers?

On Monday, All Life Is Local will publish a column calling for a complete ban on leaf blowers in the District of Columbia. In the meantime, you can register your opinion in our poll.

Code Red Air Quality Days: Ban Lawn Mowers, Leaf Blowers

Today is a Code Orange air quality day. Yesterday was Code Red. When the air quality level is Code Orange, "pollution levels are harmful to children, older adults and anyone with a respiratory or heart condition." When the air quality is Code Red, as it was yesterday, it's unhealthy for everyone and everyone should limit strenuous outdoor activities, according to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

Frankly, the idea that the outside air is unhealthy to breathe blows my mind. It's unhealthy to breathe?  Imagine if DC Water announced that the water was unsafe for children to drink on multiple days during the summer, and occasionally unsafe for everyone to drink a few times a year. There would be an uproar (as there was when DC's water has excessive lead levels.) Air, like water, should always be safe.