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Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

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Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#71

Post by mathgeek »

mcpackieh wrote: post #32
madduci wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have small kids that like to play outside, you would likely have grass, not trees or something else that is more wild.

Ridiculous, kids love trees. But also, rats and therefore snakes love leaves, as does fire. If you live in the woods the kids will love it, but you still have to keep leaves away from the perimeter of the house.

> You would let a small child just run around in the forest?

Plenty of us did as children as recently as the 90s, and even at that point it was less common than previous generations. I wouldn't do it today either, but the reasons are societal and/or emotional rather than any high statistical danger.

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#72

Post by kspacewalk2 »

mcpackieh wrote: post #23
campboy wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even without lawns people will use leaf blowers to blow leaves, off their driveways or xeriscapes or whatever. So we should ban gas powered leaf blowers regardless.

I think he means that everybody should be made to live in apartments or condos, without any sort of garden, patios, etc. Dense urban living for everybody.

I live in a detached house in the suburbs and I don't own a leaf blower, have never watered the grass, cut it about once a month (and thinking of low maintenance ways to get rid of it so I don't have to own a lawn mower). So no, in fact it's not "manicured spotless lawn or literally shove everyone into apartments".

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#73

Post by ImPostingOnHN »

mcpackieh wrote: post #15

When a landscaping company uses a gas leaf blower, enforcement of the ban should be targeted at the property owner instead of the landscaping company. Most cops aren't particularly excited about bullying a hardworking landscaping worker so if you call them they won't even show up in time to give the landscaping company a ticket. On the other hand, if you could simply submit a video of the offense to local officials t…

It sounds like the root cause of the issue you describe is cops not doing their job. Perhaps the efforts of the city can be better targeted to the root cause, rather than creating additional bureaucracy, or engaging in collective punishment because it's more convenient.

It also doesn't seem like it would work because most property owners are even less excited than cops about confronting a hardworking landscaping worker, particularly given that it's the cops' job to do so, not theirs.

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#74

Post by jejeyyy77 »

ssl232 wrote: post #4

Right at the very bottom the article suggests the correct way to deal with fallen leaves: leave them alone. They decompose and provide nutrients to the grass.

If you have a few leaves, sure. If you've got more than 1 tree that shit will pile up, clump together, and form a layer of slimy leaves that won't break down for years.

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#75

Post by DoingIsLearning »

reidjs wrote: post #13
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #6

It’s just a symptom of the larger problem of manicured lawns being the number one “managed crop” in America. Eliminating home lawn is probably one of the singular things that would significantly slow down our destruction of the planet I’m sure someone will post some reason why their lawn is different somehow [1] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lawn-largest-crop-america_n_5... [2] https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisf…

Why people would put so much effort into growing useless grass is astonishing to me. You can grow anything there and you choose grass? Why? I assume it has to do with an HOA? Or aesthetics? Or it’s easier?

Originally if you think of Manor house gardens, wasting farmable land to just keep lawned gardens was a sign of wealth.

I guess from there the whole thing evolved to american real estate selling "american dream" aesthetics.

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#76

Post by rootusrootus »

simonw wrote: post #56
4death4 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, they don’t. The vast majority of water is used for agricultural and industrial purposes. Even if you completely eliminated lawns, you wouldn’t make a meaningful dent in water consumption.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practic... says "Lawns are the most grown crop in the U.S." - would be interesting to see more detailed data on that.

The vast majority of lawns don’t get watered aside from the rain.

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#77

Post by CalRobert »

mcpackieh wrote: post #23
campboy wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even without lawns people will use leaf blowers to blow leaves, off their driveways or xeriscapes or whatever. So we should ban gas powered leaf blowers regardless.

I think he means that everybody should be made to live in apartments or condos, without any sort of garden, patios, etc. Dense urban living for everybody.

Well, considering that it's illegal to build apartments or condos in most places I don't think you have to worry about that.

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#78

Post by CalRobert »

djha-skin wrote: post #14
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #6

It’s just a symptom of the larger problem of manicured lawns being the number one “managed crop” in America. Eliminating home lawn is probably one of the singular things that would significantly slow down our destruction of the planet I’m sure someone will post some reason why their lawn is different somehow [1] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lawn-largest-crop-america_n_5... [2] https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisf…

Pretty sure driving 1-2 ton cars every day and flying planes do a way better job of destroying the planet than mowing the lawn with a small four-cycle motor once a week.

The land use change is a bigger factor than the mowing. Though you're right, we should work on reducing lawns and car usage.

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#79

Post by SaintGhurka »

lucidguppy wrote: post #5

I don't get leaf blowers really. I'd love to have some sort of paper bag and connector to my lawn mower. I have my bag and just getting it into the brown bag is a little bit of a pain. But man - you just do it once and you don't have to cajole the leaves for 10s of minutes.

Is there a reason you don't just let the lawn mower mulch them up and leave them on the ground? After I mow over my leaves they pretty much disappear into the grass.

Re: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them?

#80

Post by r3trohack3r »

guiriduro wrote: post #64
krupan wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lawns are beautiful and useful. Are we not allowed to expend resources for beautiful and useful things?

Public parks are too. If you've got reasonable access to one, do you need the other? Or rather, is a private lawn something that should be taxed (much?) more heavily where a park is available within 15 mins walk? And should urban planners take that into account, and developments be penalised when they don't?

Ha, within a 15 minute walk? I’m going to guess you don’t have kids.

So parents need to pack everything up daily for their kids to go play (at least for the first N years of life until they’re independent enough to go do a 15min walk on their own) or be taxed for it?

I have a public park across the street from me.

I spent $20k converting the side of my house into a playground for my kids.

The QoL impact has been massive.

It’s gated in by a 6ft perimeter brick wall with a door that we put in that opens from the kitchen.

In the morning, my 2 year old can unlock the door to the side yard and go play before we even wake up.

The side yard lets our kids play without us needing to supervise. It gives them strong early independent play and gives us space to get life sorted out while they are entertaining themselves (chores, bills, etc.).

The park across the street does none of that, it is not interchangeable in any meaningful way.

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