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A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

theatlantic.com

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Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#71

Post by chrisseaton »

nkrisc wrote: post #37
chrisseaton wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Part of it is because of lawns, if you have a lot of trees the leaves can simply smother your lawn. Do you think we don't have trees and lawns in Europe?

Of course I don’t think that. What made you think I did? Because I stated something that can happen?

Because someone asked 'why do they do this in America when they don't do it in Europe' and your explanation was 'because if you have lawns trees can smother them'. That doesn't make sense as an explanation to the question unless you think having lawns and trees or not is a difference between Americans and Europeans. Otherwise how does it apply?

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#72

Post by koheripbal »

criddell wrote: post #2

Gasoline powered leaf blowers. I believe electric blowers are still permitted.

The issue with the electric ones is that those lawn care companies have crews that run leaf blowers all day long from one house to another. This is no longer possible as they take hours to recharge after each use.

It works if each home owner buys a leaf blower of his own, but that's way less efficient from a manufacturing/maintenance perspective.

We're just increasing inefficiencies.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#73

Post by soco »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #66
bradfa wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a homeowner, a 2 or 4 stroke gas engine has no compelling benefit these days over a cordless electric string trimmer. The price of the electrics seems to be low enough now and carry enough energy to handle pretty much any single family home. But for a lawn care crew who may cut 20+ lawns a day, they will need a heck of a battery solution for string trimmers or leaf blowers, either in terms of battery capacity or…

>For a homeowner, a 2 or 4 stroke gas engine has no compelling benefit these days over a cordless electric string trimmer Cost. I would have gone electric if I could but seeing as I don't obsess over my lawn (i.e. I let it grow out enough before cutting it back that most HNers would be hand wringing if I were their neighbor) there's no amount of mental gymnastics that makes it a sane tradeoff. I'm not gonna double th…

If you have it already, I understand. But if you started from scratch, or if your existing mower died? It might be a slightly different decision. Electric costs more indeed but your own ears, nose and lungs are important as well.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#74

Post by koheripbal »

donatj wrote: post #4

Outlaw as the author calls them “groomed lawns”. They’re a waste of time, energy and resources that could all be going towards something productive.

Have you ever seen a tree lined residential neighborhood where no one cleans up the leaves at all?

It's like a dystopian wasteland with piles of leaves collecting on the sides of homes and in streets 5 feet high. Leaf piles don't just disappear if left alone - they turn into large piles of muddy mess in the streets and around the edges of homes and will be there next year - and build up year-over-year.

It leads to mold issues, rodent issues, car accidents, and an absolute garbage looking neighborhood. It doesn't have to be perfect - but the opposite extreme never makes sense.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#75

Post by rob74 »

showerst wrote: post #32

I live in DC, a few bits of info about why it makes sense here, and may not make sense in your home: 1. They didn't ban leaf blowers, the banned _gas_ leaf blowers. Electric ones are quieter, inexpensive, and work just as well nowadays. My building has an electric Milwaukee that was 200 bucks and lasts all afternoon on a battery or two. 2. This isn't about people wanting to manicure their lawns out in the burbs at 7a…

I would really wish other cities followed suit. And I propose to extend this to a ban on all devices with noisy and smelly two-stroke engines: chainsaws, lawn mowers, motor scooters etc. The scooters may not be a problem in Washington, but anyone who has ever been to an Italian or Spanish city can probably relate...

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#76

Post by koheripbal »

seb1204 wrote: post #67
fat_cantor wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everywhere in America that I have lived, their primary use case is landscapers blowing leaves and trash from private property into the street, thereby clogging drains.

This, same in Australia. Blow it into the road or the neighbours. Then no longer my problem. What is so difficult with using a rake and picking it up?

The American neighborhoods I've lived in, the lawn care companies blow them into piles, and then the city collects with the truck.

There's a LOT of leaves in the northeast. They absolutely NEED to be collected. It would bury the roads here if they didn't.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#78

Post by showerst »

rob74 wrote: post #75
showerst wrote: post #32

I live in DC, a few bits of info about why it makes sense here, and may not make sense in your home: 1. They didn't ban leaf blowers, the banned _gas_ leaf blowers. Electric ones are quieter, inexpensive, and work just as well nowadays. My building has an electric Milwaukee that was 200 bucks and lasts all afternoon on a battery or two. 2. This isn't about people wanting to manicure their lawns out in the burbs at 7a…

I would really wish other cities followed suit. And I propose to extend this to a ban on all devices with noisy and smelly two-stroke engines: chainsaws, lawn mowers, motor scooters etc. The scooters may not be a problem in Washington, but anyone who has ever been to an Italian or Spanish city can probably relate...

I agree with the sentiment but pragmatically I think we have to time bans to when replacements are really equivalent or better-- electric mowers in particular are still 4x the cost and get mixed reviews, and I don't think chainsaw usage is a huge civic problem here in DC, but I don't live next to any big parks.

Maybe we could also go with making new ones illegal to sell, though we'd have to coordinate with MD and VA which seems unlikely.

Leaf blowers are a slam dunk, I don't know enough about scooters to comment intelligently.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#79

Post by Workaccount2 »

koheripbal wrote: post #72
criddell wrote: post #2

Gasoline powered leaf blowers. I believe electric blowers are still permitted.

The issue with the electric ones is that those lawn care companies have crews that run leaf blowers all day long from one house to another. This is no longer possible as they take hours to recharge after each use. It works if each home owner buys a leaf blower of his own, but that's way less efficient from a manufacturing/maintenance perspective. We're just increasing inefficiencies.

Maybe they need to have another truck follow them so they can bag and dispose of lawn clippings.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#80

Post by BenjiWiebe »

ipnon wrote: post #70

Leaf blowers are the last frontier of regulatory internal combustion engine efficiency. Your car is required by law to travel 100 miles on a drop of 10% ethanol fuel with minimal smog release. Your leaf blower can be powered by funeral home soot for all the EPA cares, and you can run it full blast right outside little Timmy’s window all afternoon. This was a win for both noise and air pollution, which we should be cl…

Actually the EPA does have regulations for leaf blowers. They aren't totally turning a blind eye.
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