Article below written for Wicker Park Committee’s Circa newsletter:
Just Say No to Blow… Leaf Blowers, that is! That’s the title that I wanted when I offered to write this piece. I want to propose to my fellow Wicker Parkers that we ask our landscaping contractors to eliminate leaf blowing, because I believe they are noisy polluters and unnecessary. I did a little research to back up my opinions, and here’s what I found:Opinion: Leaf blowers are usually 2-cycle engines and therefore emit burned and unburned gas and oil…True. A leaf blower operating for 30 minutes puts out more emissions than an automobile traveling 2200 miles. Yes, they are a drop in the bucket compared to emissions from cars. We would prevent way more pollution if we stopped driving altogether. But who can do that? Not many of us.Opinion: Leaf blowers are noisy…True. The articles and references were mostly concerned with workers, not neighbors. That makes sense- when the various landscaping services that serve my neighbors come, the leaf blowing, while amazingly loud, is relatively short-lived, and is done for another week, at least at that property. We would prevent more noise if the ordinance against too-loud car stereos could actually be enforced, or we could disarm car alarms that keep going off. But who can do that? No one I know.Opinion: Leaf blowers are unnecessary… True. Leaf blowers were invented in Japan to eliminate use of water for cleaning bits of grass off concrete. Preventing use of a limited natural resource for this task is still used to justify leaf blowers. Landscapers also say their clients won’t pay for manual labor to do what a leaf blower does.
(In the interest of full disclosure, I must say that those who know me and/or my yard know that I prefer a natural landscape. I love native plants and want to host the butterflies and bees that thrive on them. Not all of my neighbors appreciate the “forest floor” on my parkway, but they have been quite polite about it. Not everyone wants the same look, and some of our Victorian mansions might look a bit odd without a manicured style.)
But, from March through September, when tree leaves aren’t falling en masse, leaf blowers just blow small bits of organic matter that could stay on lawn or planting beds and act as mulch, eventually decomposing and enriching the soil, and reducing the need for artificial fertilizer, another environmental benefit. It seems that even the most traditionally landscaped neighbors could consider foregoing blowing until October of each year.
Wicker Park blazed the trail with Blue Carts, we have some of the nicest gardens in the city, (and an amazing Park Garden) and we can break trail with leaf blowing, too. Simply put, it’s something we CAN do, as opposed to not driving at all, for example. It’s well within the grasp of each of us to make this small, beneficial change to Wicker Park. Carmel-by-the-Sea and Beverly Hills banned leaf blowers early on; now nearly 100 cities ban them. Let’s go “grass roots” on this- instead of an ordinance, tell your landscaping contractor to not blow until the leaves fall, in October. Ask your neighbors to consider doing the same. Your yard and garden, your neighbors, and your mother (Earth) will thank you!
Dina Petrakis
Leavitt at Pierce
