Leaf Blower facts:
* Air Pollution—A single leaf blower operating for an hour emits as much pollution as 40 cars idling during the same amount of time.
* Leaf blowers stir up over two pounds per hour per leaf blower of dangerous particulate matter including but not limited to cat, dog, and rodent feces, pesticides, and street dust which may include mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium and nickel. (The American Lung Associate of Sacramento)
* Leaf blowers exceed the World Health Organization’s acceptable ambient noise levels by 20 decibels at 50 feet.
* "Leaf blowers pose multiple hazards to human health. Children are the most susceptible members of our population to these hazards because they breathe more air per pound of body weight per day than adults
* particulates spewn into the air by leaf blowers contribute to and aggravate respiratory and allergy problems, as well as add a significant amount of pollution. They also dry and destroy the fragile top soil, hurting the environment.
Do we want another dust bowl? We are already in a major state of drought! It seems all the leaf blowers I see will only make it worse. Not to mention the amount of pollution coming from just one leaf blower! They deliver several environmental blows after just one hour of usage! I never see anyone bagging any leaves after they use them either. Gas powered Leaf blowers are useless and archaic!
We just banned plastic bags as a city lets catch up with the 21st century and really start trying to clean up and reverse the environmental damage we have already done. There is absolutely no need for these machines. Especially at the cost of our health and environment. Please sign this petition for a cleaner brighter tomorrow!
Hydrocarbon emissions from 30 minutes of leaf blower usage = 7,700 miles of driving.
Carbon monoxide from 30 minutes of leaf blower usage = 440 miles of driving.
What we can do:
We can make a dramatic change just by either switching from gas powered leaf blowers to electrically powered leaf blowers OR by simply raking and brooming instead. Another suggestion is to let the leaves deteriorate naturally as nature intended and provide nutrients to the ground (mulch them instead). You can also help by spreading the word about the harmful effects from using a gas leaf blower and letting people know that they have actually become illegal in many places around the world!
If Austin can ban plastic we need to ban leaf blowers next! They are huge polluters bigger than plastic bags! They might not be as obvious as the plastic bag... but when i watch a guy leaf blowing in the extreme wind or wake up with a sore throat because there are 2 or 3 leaf blowers working on one yard it becomes extremely obvious to me!
