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How a small group of activists got gas-powered leaf blowers banned in D.C.

theatlantic.com

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Re: How a small group of activists got gas-powered leaf blowers banned in D.C.

#191

Post by cellularmitosis »

shiftpgdn wrote: post #10

For what it's worth a gas powered leaf blower puts out as much pollution in a day of work as a Ford Raptor will in 100,000 miles. Source: https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/features/emissions-test-...

I once made the mistake of sleeping with a window open the night before the lawn crew came through my apartment complex. A plume of 2-stroke exhaust is a particularly nauseating way to be woken up. It was bad enough that I grabbed my toothbrush and ran out the door and headed to work without a shower.

But hey! No leaves on the patio come Tuesday! #worthit

Re: How a small group of activists got gas-powered leaf blowers banned in D.C.

#192

Post by cellularmitosis »

huntie wrote: post #145

Has anyone here done commercial lawncare? I mowed cemeteries and churches for 5 years. Electric tools might work for a tiny suburban plot but try doing even a single cemetery with them. We only used leaf blowers at the cemeteries a few times a year (Memorial day, etc.) but there is no way an electric blower would last long enough. D.C. has Arlington Cemetery too, so I'm not sure what they'll do. Maybe they have an ex…

This raises the larger issue of our culture’s expectation that acres of manicured lawn is a reasonable thing to expect.

Once that seed of skepticism seeps in, you really reel at the sheer mass of wasted time and money which this country spends on manicuring lawns.

Re: How a small group of activists got gas-powered leaf blowers banned in D.C.

#193

Post by djpilot »

reitzensteinm wrote: post #144
freeone3000 wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a more efficient engine, with better particulate filters, a catalytic converter to reduce NOx emissions, and yearly emissions inspections to ensure all of the above is up to standards. It's a gain.

"More efficient" is not a binary thing. Taking an efficient engine that's capable of throwing two tons of steel down a highway at 100 mph and using it to charge a lithium ion battery is like killing an ant with a sledgehammer. An F150 consumes ~2 litres of fuel an hour at idle and provides 400 watts of power through its outlet. A Bosch leaf blower is 2400 watt. Petrol powered leaf blowers do not use 12 liters of fuel…

> An F150 consumes ~2 litres of fuel an hour at idle

Where'd you get this number? AFAICT this is not true.

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+much+gas+per+hour+idling...

More like a little less than 1 liter for a 4.6L V8 motor.

Re: How a small group of activists got gas-powered leaf blowers banned in D.C.

#194

Post by djpilot »

gumby wrote: post #66
dbcurtis wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it’s why the suburban ground in California looks — and acts — like concrete. Look, I am as fanatical about soil biome issues as anyone that you are going to find, but your assertion is overly simplistic. If you look at a soil type map for large parts of Sili Valley, you will see big chunks labeled "Adobe". As in clay. As in it doesn't percolate. As in naturally sparse in organic matter. As in gardening contractors…

Yes, but the topsoil has been blown away exposing that clay. You just have to look at the "nature strip" in front of my house compared to my neighbors on the same street. We're all on the same terrain. Mine is the only one with grass (and flowers despite people getting out of cars and treading on them).

Maybe blown away by wind and / or burned dry by the summer heat.

You seem out of touch with reality (I intend this in the gentlest way possible).

Re: How a small group of activists got gas-powered leaf blowers banned in D.C.

#195

Post by jakobegger »

sjwright wrote: post #168
creato wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think electric only makes sense for individuals that use these tools once a day at most. Running a lawn maintenance business on electric tools would probably be far more expensive and logistics-heavy.

For now you’d probably be right in some cases but not all. It’s certainly on the cusp of changing. A petrol lawnmower still wins for long runtimes, though even that can be mitigated by having multiple batteries. It’s fair to say the electric upsides are marginal with mowers. Whereas with hand tools like leaf blowers and line trimmers, the benefits are massive. Professional electric garden tools place the battery pack…

You blow up a lot of dust with a leaf blower, so a face mask is probably a good idea regardless

Re: How a small group of activists got gas-powered leaf blowers banned in D.C.

#196

Post by erikpukinskis »

yummypaint wrote: post #68

I wish universities would ban leaf blowers. In addition to pollution, they kick up spores that contaminate people's experiments in the bio sciences. I know people who had to turn around and go back home to shower because they got blasted by a leaf blower walking to work. Given that campuses are eager to ban smoking, which produces vastly less pollution by volume, leaf blowers should be a no brainer.

Why don't we use vacuums?

Re: How a small group of activists got gas-powered leaf blowers banned in D.C.

#197

Post by reitzensteinm »

djpilot wrote: post #193
reitzensteinm wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"More efficient" is not a binary thing. Taking an efficient engine that's capable of throwing two tons of steel down a highway at 100 mph and using it to charge a lithium ion battery is like killing an ant with a sledgehammer. An F150 consumes ~2 litres of fuel an hour at idle and provides 400 watts of power through its outlet. A Bosch leaf blower is 2400 watt. Petrol powered leaf blowers do not use 12 liters of fuel…

> An F150 consumes ~2 litres of fuel an hour at idle Where'd you get this number? AFAICT this is not true. https://www.google.com/search?q=how+much+gas+per+hour+idling... More like a little less than 1 liter for a 4.6L V8 motor.

Your link says 0.5-0.7 gallons for the 4.6L V8, which is 1.9-2.6 liters.

Re: How a small group of activists got gas-powered leaf blowers banned in D.C.

#198

Post by ddebernardy »

mrfredward wrote: post #6

>Noise, they have come to understand, is the secondhand smoke of this era. Most of the author's points about sound come down to hand waving and weasel wording. He says hearing loss is "coming up fast on the list" of public health problems (a meaningless assertion), and then he never presents evidence that leaf blowers are a significant cause of this. He started with the conclusion (leaf blowers make an annoying sound…

Watch the video. It's only a few minutes long and is a lot more precise.

Re: How a small group of activists got gas-powered leaf blowers banned in D.C.

#199

Post by caleblloyd »

imglorp wrote: post #129
tantalor wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making them electric helps.

I just switched to an electric mower. It cost about the same as an decent mower, is lighter weight, always starts, is plenty powerful, and has about 45 minutes of charge on a swappable battery. I could buy more batteries if I wanted more runtime. I can also swap that battery with other equipment like string trimmers. I've overhauled my last temperamental gas carb. The end of gas lawn gear is indeed in sight.

I had a 40v electric mower with 5A battery for $350 new a few years ago. Battery life got shorter every run, the stopped working after 2 years, replaced under 3 year warranty. Second battery life continues to get shorter.

New 5A batteries are $150. I had some 2A batteries from other lawn equipment but the mower eats through those in 10m, plus puts another charge cycle on them.

I finally got feud up and got a Honda self-propelled gas mower for $400 that should last 10 years. I think battery mower is great for tiny lawns, say 0.1 acres or less. Anything bigger and li-ion tech is going to be too expensive over the years.

Love the battery weedeacker and hedge trimmer though. The battery blower is great for blowing the porch or driveway, but for fall cleanup or gutters it's the same story; get a corded electric for that.

Re: How a small group of activists got gas-powered leaf blowers banned in D.C.

#200

Post by loudtieblahblah »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #8

What is wrong with using a rake to pick up leaves? Leafblowers are loud, dirty, they raise huge clouds of dust, they stink of gasoline, and at the end of the day, blowing leaves into a pile isn't even faster than raking them together. Using a leafblower is a sign of entitled loutishness.

It takes me 2 days at 8 hours a day to pick up my yard with a rake.

It takes me a half day with a leaf blower.

Between October and Feb I may have to pick up leaves 3 or 4 times to keep it from killing my grass or at the very least not be a bad neighbor and allow my leaves to blow over into the yard of people who just picked up theirs

I have a kid to take care of, other house upkeep to do, a 40-50 hour a week job.

This whole thread is filled with young, urban kids who have never been responsible for property

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