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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)

#61

Post by Sankozi »

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…

> They didn't ban leaf blowers, the banned _gas_ leaf blowers. Electric ones are quieter, inexpensive, and work just as well nowadays.

While noise is an issue with gas blowers, the biggest issue with all kinds of blowers is how much air pollution they cause by putting dust back into the air.

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

#62

Post by LgWoodenBadger »

IME, a big part of the irritation is caused by the irregular throttle inputs by the operator. The continuous revving->idle->revving is what bothers me the most. If they kept the throttle constant, like a lawnmower, it would be easier to ignore and less distracting/obnoxious.

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

#63

Post by DoneWithAllThat »

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.

So are video games, alcohol, candy, pogo sticks, and about a million other things. I get that climate doomers are hyper fixated on lawns ruining the planet and leading us all into the apocalypse but you should just be honest about believing that rather than using lazy and trite arguments.

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

#64

Post by nkrisc »

CivBase wrote: post #42
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.

As an American, I have only ever seen the opposite. Pretty much everyone where I'm at just mows over the leaves. Blowers mostly used to clear streets and sidewalks. Rakes are sometimes used to collect leaves and burn them, but even that is uncommon. However, I live in the midwest. We don't have as many trees here as the east or west coasts.

I'm on the East coast and I do mulch leaves with the mower for most of my lawn. However there are parts of the property where we have more trees and where leaves accumulate from being blown by the wind from other parts of the lawn. In those parts the lawn would probably die if I didn't clear the leaves myself.

However I also have honeylocust trees which drop loads of these large bean-like seed pods and these stems after the leaves fall which bunch up and can only be best described as like "wads of shaved pubic hair." I also have sweetgum trees which drop these hard, spiky seed pods that I also need to rake up. The mower can turn those into projectiles.

Really the best solution, in my case at least, would be to alter the landscaping in that area to something that would be unaffected by the leaves, but I don't have the time for that now. So clear leaves I do.

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

#65

Post by DoneWithAllThat »

fat_cantor wrote: post #20
nkrisc wrote: post #11

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. But even in cities there’s reasons to clean them up. They clog drains, they lump together in the gutter creating blockages that cause large puddles when it rains, they stain the pavement, they decompose on the sidewalk and people track it everywhere in buildings, and more. Maybe you don’t see these as problems that nee…

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.

I have literally never seen this anywhere I’ve lived. It’s always been the opposite.

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

#66

Post by throwaway0a5e »

bradfa wrote: post #54
horsawlarway wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting - At least in my area most of the gas weed eaters available for sale are now 4-stroke. Wonder which will end up being more prevalent.

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 the cost on something I run maybe 20min/mo. If I were one of those people who bought overpriced premium equipment I didn't need then it might make sense.

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

#67

Post by seb1204 »

fat_cantor wrote: post #20
nkrisc wrote: post #11

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. But even in cities there’s reasons to clean them up. They clog drains, they lump together in the gutter creating blockages that cause large puddles when it rains, they stain the pavement, they decompose on the sidewalk and people track it everywhere in buildings, and more. Maybe you don’t see these as problems that nee…

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?

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

#69

Post by peanut_worm »

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.

outlawing them would be silly but HOAs and city ordinances should not be allowed to force you to have a lawn

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

#70

Post by ipnon »

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 clear kills many more people per year than the costs borne by landscapers to upgrade to electric machines.
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