Kristin Schneeman is a Representative Town Meeting member, and a sponsor of Westport’s leaf blower ordinance. She writes:
In January 2023 Westport became one of the first towns in Connecticut to limit the use of gas-powered leaf blowers. Since then several towns, including Norwalk and Greenwich, have followed suit.
Starting this year, the use of gas blowers will be banned between May 15 and October 15, with a few exceptions and exemptions.
Anyone wishing to use blowers for light-duty summer activities such as blowing grass clippings, pollen and dust must have an electric blower. Please let your landscapers and neighbors know!
The town has chosen to regulate the use of gas leaf blowers for a number of reasons:
Pollution. Most gas leaf blowers use extremely inefficient “two-stroke” engines that spew large amounts of fine particulate matter and other pollutants into the air.
The California Air Resources Board studied lawn and garden equipment, and found that the best-selling commercial gas leaf blower put out more smog-forming pollution in one hour than a Toyota Camry driving 1,100 miles.
Health of residents and workers. The pollutants leaf blowers emit are known to cause cancer, heart issues, respiratory issues, problems in pregnancy, and even premature death for those with certain conditions.
Landscape workers suffer the most, due to chronic exposure.
Gas leaf blowers can also blast air at 200+ miles an hour, kicking up clouds of dust, mold, pollen, animal feces, and other tiny particles that linger in the air. These can irritate and cause health problems for both humans and pets.
Noise. Gas leaf blowers are so loud that they can cause hearing loss fairly quickly for anyone within a 50-foot radius.
Their noise has a strong low-frequency component that makes it travel especially far and pass through walls and windows easily.
A typical crew operating multiple machines generates enough noise to exceed EPA community standards for 800 feet in all directions, making it difficult to concentrate for people working from home or attending school remotely.
Biodiversity. Leaf blowers destroy the natural layer of leaf litter that protects and nourishes plants and wildlife, including pollinators hibernating there for the winter.
Lawn and garden beauty. Simply leaving short grass clippings on the lawn recycles their nutrients into the soil.
In the fall, leaves can be mulched with a lawn mower or left on garden beds, where they will protect plants through the winter, suppress weeds, and improve soil structure and health.
Instead of leaf blowers, we hope Westport property owners will use and encourage their landscapers to use some combination of battery-powered tools, mulch mowing, rakes, and “leaving the leaves” in garden beds.
(The environment and local politics are 2 of “06880”‘s regular beats. If you appreciate our hyper-local coverage, please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)