Zürich voters ban noisy leaf blowers
111–120 of 149 posts
Re: Zürich voters ban noisy leaf blowers
#112I live in a very leafy area with a lot of deciduous forest cover, so we're no stranger to leaves. I have never understood leafblowing. It seems like such busy work. It's not hugely common here but I have seen people carefully shepherding leaves into little piles on pathways, battling against the entropy of a light breeze. I'm sure there's a good reason but it always just seems like the ultimate expression of man tryi…
Raking requires more back work and they are moving the leaves onto the street for collection.
But some people seem to get obsessed with it and do it almost every day instead of the minimum number of times required to accomplish the purpose.
Around here if you simply let the leaves stay on your lawn you’re going to have a moldy mess and dead grass the next spring.
Re: Zürich voters ban noisy leaf blowers
#113So jealous
Re: Zürich voters ban noisy leaf blowers
#114Are many HN members in Zürich? I was suprised to see this type of news with so many points, though it's quite amusing to see the mixture of different topics in the front page.
Yes and I am also surprised to see this news here. (I voted yes to the restriction) We also approved an initiative for cheaper public transport which is cool.
Thank you - it'll be years before I can vote in Zurich, but the neighbourly weekly leaf blower parade kept me closing my windows or working somewhere else
Re: Zürich voters ban noisy leaf blowers
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did you try rakes like this? https://www.joom.com/products/681aed59eda2b001310d4e2c
A better rake will help me outcompete a leaf blower as well as better shoes will help me outcompete a car.
I'll tried a leaf blower only once (it was when visiting family) and I raked every other autumn day as a kid. Leaf blower was... extremely painful to use, for me. It felt like it took me 2x more time to achieve what rake would do effortlessly.
But a lot of it was probably familiarity with rake and a lack of skill with leaf blower. I am sorry ready to believe that technology progressed enough that leaf blowers are now usable. I'd like to see how it feels with wet leafs though.
Re: Zürich voters ban noisy leaf blowers
#116Are many HN members in Zürich? I was suprised to see this type of news with so many points, though it's quite amusing to see the mixture of different topics in the front page.
Zurich is an important city for IT in Europe, and a city I personally like as a visitor.
But that's not it - I find this restriction interesting, and I wanted to learn more. I contrast this with the unrestricted American "freedom to" that I usually see in HN.
Re: Zürich voters ban noisy leaf blowers
#117Maybe it’s just me but I wonder why western countries don’t implement noise limits for vehicles with sirens in residential areas (fire trucks, police, ambulance etc.). It always felt to me unnecessarily loud.
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Re: Zürich voters ban noisy leaf blowers
#118honestly i don't get the point of leaf blowers, you move the leaves with an extremely loud gasoline powered machine from one place to another for what purpose, to make it someone else's problem and then they can blow them back?
So you can take them to a bag or trash can and they don't ruin your lawn.
I hated doing this as a kid btw, and it's one of the reasons I don't want a home with a lawn.
Re: Zürich voters ban noisy leaf blowers
#119I live in a very leafy area with a lot of deciduous forest cover, so we're no stranger to leaves. I have never understood leafblowing. It seems like such busy work. It's not hugely common here but I have seen people carefully shepherding leaves into little piles on pathways, battling against the entropy of a light breeze. I'm sure there's a good reason but it always just seems like the ultimate expression of man tryi…
Same here, it is crazy around Autum in Germany, I never seen anyone bothering with leaves back in Portugal, and worse many of those leaf blowers are diesel powered, so much for being eco-friendly.
Re: Zürich voters ban noisy leaf blowers
#120It would be nice if we could solve our problems in a nice and civil way, and to be considerate to one another instead of making things illegal. But then again, we are talking about a country where in many buildings you are not allowed to shower after 9pm.. Or take out the glass to the recycling on sundays..
The showering thing is an urban legend; you can have landlords try and enforce it, but it infringes on your basic right to enjoy your property iirc and is unenforceable. The glass thing is accurate tho!
When I used to live there, about 20 years ago, getting notes under the door from some neighbour complaining about whatever noises during the evening used to be common.