Leaf blowers suck!

Or so says the bumper sticker on my landscape truck.
The funny thing is leaf blowers also blow, metaphorically speaking. It is a sad thing to hear the gardeners arrive with all their noise and have it still called gardening. I beg to differ.

I try to keep a level head and my language clean when I’m writing but when it comes to leaf blowers all bets are off.  My favorite descriptive term for these devices is “Polluting-Noise-Bazookas”.  I support a leaf blower ban and I recognize that I am in the minority within the landscape industry on this subject.

An oxymoron?
How can I be a landscaper and not be completely enamored with the omnipresent labor-saving device known as the leaf blower? This is a touchy subject or to be more exact, a noisy one. Everyone has an opinion about gas powered leaf blowers, from the folks like myself who refer to them as Polluting Noise Bazookas, to those who think of them as indispensable and use them as a primary tool in outdoor janitorial work. I thought it would be helpful to lay out the issue blow by blow if you will.
It is good to understand both sides of the story. Believe me, I know, I’ve been there.

“My Escape from the Land of the Two-stroke Back-pack Blowers”

Is the title of an article I wrote a few years ago to tell my story. While I do address electric leaf blowers, what follows primarily discusses the use of gas-powered leaf blowers because they are the main offenders in this story.
My friend Steve Zien is Executive Director of Biological Urban Gardening Services (BUGS), an international membership organization of professional landscapers. He states, “BUGS has opposed the use of leaf blowers for many years for a variety of reasons. There are many hidden costs when utilizing blowers regularly. The leaf blower is perhaps the most over-used and inappropriately used landscape tool. Autumn's tremendous amount of organic debris that requires collection might be considered appropriate use of this tool. However, the weekly routine of blowing abuses the soil and damages landscape plants while the noise creates ill will from neighbors and clients alike.”

Carbon Footprint
A conservative estimate is that there are six million leaf blowers in California to date. The majority are gas-powered. Everyday these blowers spew over 1.5 million gallons of raw, unburned, two-stroke fuel into California air for a total of over 540 million gallons per year. This dumps over 48,000 tons of carbon dioxide into California air, totaling over 18 million tons per year. This is a significant contributor to climate change.
*A Grand Jury convened on the subject of leaf blowers in San Luis Obispo County, CA, concluding that, "Considering the evidence...the health hazards citizens are exposed to from two-cycle leaf blowers outweigh the possible benefit they provide." The Grand Jury went on to recommend that all cities within that county initiate a phase out of leaf blowers.
*From Citizens for a Quieter Sacramento

The blow by blow on leaf blower abuse
What are the ecological, health and social impacts of gas-powered leaf blowers? Most professional gas leaf blowers are two-stroke. The two-stroke engine is a major polluter because it burns oil in addition to gas. The exhaust, along with the particulate matter that is blown into the air, lowers air quality, and foists noise pollution upon anyone within a few blocks’ radius.

1. Air Pollution
*According to the California Air Resources Board the types of air pollutants emitted when using a gasoline-powered leaf blower for half an hour are equivalent to those emitted from 440 miles of automobile travel at 30mph average speed. Compared to an average large car, one hour of operation of a leaf blower emits 498 times as many hydrocarbons, 49 times as much particulate matter, and 26 times as much carbon monoxide.
*Data found at Greenwich Citizens Against Leaf Blower Mania
Here are the results of an emissions test by Edmunds Video Productions titled Car vs. Truck vs. Leaf Blower  (December 2, 2011). Note that cars emit pollution over a long stretch of road, dispersing it, while leaf blowers deposit it all in one small area. The tongue in cheek conclusion of this video? It would cause less pollution to use the Ford Raptor Pick-Up to blow leaves than the two-stroke leaf blower.

	Non-Methane Hydrocarbons (NMHC)Parts per million	Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)Parts per million	Carbon Monoxide (CO)By percentage
2011 Ford Raptor Pick-Up Truck	0.005	0.005	0.276
2012 Fiat 500	0.016	0.010	0.192
4-Stroke Leaf Blower	0.182	0.031	3.714
2- Stroke 50 cc Leaf Blower	1.495	0.010	6.445

2. Dust
Leaf blowers are implicated in stirring up particulate matter (PM). The high-velocity air jets suspend dust and pollutants into the air. PM is composed of dust, fecal matter, pesticides, fungi, chemicals, fertilizers, spores, and street dirt which may contain lead, cadmium and organic and elemental carbon. Roughly five pounds of PM per leaf blower per hour are swept into the air and take hours to settle. A bad thing for those of us who breathe.

3. Noise
Ultimately the soundscape is sacrificed in the pursuit of the immaculate landscape. Many people and organizations say this is not an equitable exchange.*
Leaf blower noise disturbs our circadian rhythms, a bad thing for those of us who sleep.

• The World Health Organization recommends noise levels of 55 decibels or less, and 45 decibels to meet sleep criteria. Gas leaf blowers generally measure at least 65-75 decibels at 50 feet away, and much higher at close range.

• The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that noise levels over 75 decibels can cause hearing loss and are harmful to human health. 

*Data is from Citizens for a Quieter Sacramento  and  Greenwich Citizens Against Leaf Blower Mania
Leaf blowers may be one of the most egregious noise offenders but when you add lawn mowers, weed whackers and hedge trimmers it is truly crazy making. It is time to find a way to turn the noise off. 

4. Denuding the soil
Soil exposed to the gale force winds of a leaf blower end up denuded, a sad ending for the life in the soil. As its name implies the leaf blower’s primary benefit is gathering leaves for disposal. This is all well and fine from the standpoint of risk management – in particular, reducing the liability of people slipping on leaves on walkways, a concern of homeowners associations and businesses alike. Unfortunately, what goes along with this is the propensity of operators to use blowers to remove leaves from soil areas. When leaves are removed, soil is denuded of this natural mulch. Leaf litter benefits the soil by increasing organic matter, preventing erosion caused by wind and rain, and by keeping the soil cool in the summer months. It also saves water and reduces the need for irrigation. For these reasons, blowing leaves off soil areas is now considered a poor management practice, and should be avoided.

How necessary are leaf blowers really?
According to the California Landscape Contractors Association’s (CLCA) website, leaf blowers are an “extremely efficient and safe tool.” The CLCA further asserts that, “Most landscape industry estimates suggest that it takes at least five times as long to clean a typical landscape site with a broom and rake than it does with a power leaf blower.” CLCA believes many clients can't afford or are not willing to pay for the additional cost of landscape maintenance without the leaf blower. CLCA does not consider electric leaf blowers to be a viable alternative to gas powered leaf blowers. To sum it up, says CLCA, "…while we recognize public concerns with (gas) leaf blower noise and air emissions, these devices are absolutely essential for the economic well being of our industry."

If you must use a leaf blower catogory... Can we reduce gas leaf blower impacts?

There are numerous ways that leaf blowers are misused and abused. If leaf blower operators modified their practices it might ease the perception that a ban is the only solution. Indeed, CLCA says, “A leaf blower ban should be a last resort and enacted only after exhausting (ironic word choice) all other alternatives.”
Currently there are twenty California cities that have banned gas (not electric) leaf blowers. The problem is that no one is presenting the alternatives to this pervasive and vexing problem. Whose role is it to educate leaf blower operators? If contractors do not deal with the problem, by default it is left up to citizens who are already fed up. Mow, Blow and Go landscape companies don’t seem to care and in this void a ban starts to seem attractive.
To their credit, CLCA has published the following guidelines addressing leaf blower abuse:
“Educational programs should include the following information:

• Generally speaking, leaf blowers should be run at half throttle most of the time. Low throttle speeds not only significantly reduce sound, but they also provide the operator with maximum control. Full throttle is seldom necessary.
• Leaf blowers should not be used in residential areas at unreasonable hours -- early in the morning or late at night when people are likely to be disturbed.
• Debris should never be blown onto adjacent property, the street, vehicles, people, or pets.
• Crews should operate only one leaf blower at a time on small residential sites.
• Rakes or brooms should be used to loosen heavier debris.
• The full nozzle extension should be used so the air stream can work close to the ground.
• The muffler, air intakes, and air filters should be routinely checked to make sure they are working properly.
• Leaf blowers should not be used to move large debris piles from one spot to another.
• If conditions are very dry, mister attachments should be used. They suppress dust.”

To this I would add another bullet point:

• Outdated equipment should be replaced.

Further, landscape professionals and homeowners should be informed about the noise levels of leaf-blower equipment before purchasing. Most buyers, if properly informed, will opt for the quietest equipment, all other factors being equal. Unfortunately, some manufacturers do not disclose this information. To this end manufacturers should comply with the provisions of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) B 175.2 Standard for Hand-Held and Backpack Gasoline-Engine-Powered Blowers.
ANSI recommends that manufacturers do the following:

• Adhere to the ANSI 175.2 sound-level test procedure.
• Ensure that all equipment and packaging are clearly and durably marked with the decibel rating.
• Establish a certification program to identify products that comply with the ANSI 175.2 standard.

Furthermore, we encourage manufacturers to amend the standard to establish maximum sound levels.
*Information found at …Land Care Network

Consider this!
Grandmother Proves Rake and Broom as Fast as Leaf Blowers 
excerpt from an article by Zero Air Pollution, an L.A.-based organization

In fighting the ban on gas-powered maintenance gardeners have argued that it would take them twice as long to do jobs if they had to use rakes and brooms. But Diane Wolfberg, a Palisadian grandmother in her late 50s, proved them wrong in tests conducted by the Department of Water & Power Leafblower Task Force last Thursday.
In three tests involving gas powered leaf blowers and battery powered leaf blowers, Diane cleaned the areas using rakes or brooms faster than any of the battery powered blowers and almost as fast as the gas powered leaf blowers and she did a better job in cleaning up the areas.
The full article can be found here… Leaf Blowers Slower than Rakes and Brooms 

Absolutely essential for the economic well being of the landscape industry?
When CLCA says, “leaf blowers are absolutely essential for the economic well being of our industry’, I reply, the whole calculation of the necessity of the leaf blower should take into account the value of peace and quiet. If the job can be accomplished by other quieter means (like rakes and brooms) then the argument becomes, must we allow leaf blowers solely for the sake of Mow, Blow and Go businesses? That is a different argument altogether because if I don’t like leaf blowers in the first place then why would I give a hoot for businesses that are largely dependent on them? I used to think gas leaf blowers where a necessary evil until I saw their larger impacts. While electric blowers are not as loud as gas blowers but they still make noise and cause particulate matter pollution, and I believe they should be used very sparingly.

“Broom vs. the Leaf Blower” challenge
I was inspired by the grandmother story and put this all to the test when I called for the “Broom vs. the Leaf Blower” challenge that took place in December of 2015. This field test challenge was set up with four judges. One with a decibel meter judging for noise pollution, one testing for air quality, one with a stopwatch judging for speed and one with a camera judging for thoroughness. My broom and I and my challenger with a two-stroke leaf blower had the exact same area to clean with the exact same amount of debris. As you may have guessed with my broom I won in the noise pollution and the air pollution categories. On a scale of 1 to 10 we tied at 6 for thoroughness and I lost by 14 seconds in speed. In other words as the headline in the paper declared the following day, “Broom sweeps the competition”. See the video of the challenge here…
http://player.tout.com/tout/mqp8uv

The Blow Job without the happy ending.
More and more cities in California are banning gas leaf blowers precisely because of this unhappy ending. Even chickens exposed to loud leaf blower noise refuse to lay eggs.

The theft of the quiet soundscape 
 Often landscape companies forgo horticultural training for their employees in favor of power and speed. This comes in the form of two-stroke leaf blowers, string trimmers, hedge trimmers and mowers. Power and speed equals noise, exhaust and dust.
In the leaf blower’s wake, animals flee. Birds, bees and butterflies depart, and the plants wish they could. Often the leaves in one yard just get blown to the neighbors and now the neighbors are up in arms. Dust gets blown onto cars and house windows for someone else to clean up later.
I support a gas leaf blower ban because I believe we would have a healthier more peaceful world without them.


What are the alternatives?



There may not be an alternative to leaf blowers that does not require a different mindset.
My broom runs on orange juice and toast. - *Rakes and brooms are, by far, the safest, easiest to use and most inexpensive of all methods. They are also lightweight, easy to store, emissions-free, very quiet, require little maintenance and are not a target for thieves as a leaf blower is.
The message from this experience is that alternatives exist that can restore landscaping to an enjoyable endeavor for all concerned.
* Information found at the Clean Houston website

Stopping leaf blower abuse
When neighborhoods and the people in them are left in the dust of leaf blower abuse, there is a vacuum. The inaction of the ‘Green industry’ to address these problems is a call to action by the citizenry. The leaf blower bans that have been enacted fill this void. Education is essential and this blow by blow account of the issue is an attempt at that. If it falls on deaf, or rather ‘protected’ ears then I believe a ban may be the last best way to defend the basic human right to peace and quiet. According to a study by Palo Alto, CA. some cities do not regulate leaf blowers at all, and regulatory strategies in other cities "fall into six basic categories:  1) time of day/day of week, 2) noise levels, 3) area specific, 4) bans, 5) educational approach, or 6) a combination of the five." I vote for number 6. I believe a combination of efforts would be the most effective way to reduce leaf blower abuse.

A mockery of the art of landscape gardening
The Mow, Blow and Go approach makes a mockery of the art of landscape gardening. It is time to take the noise out of the landscape. As a concerned member of my community and as a landscape business owner I am willing to stand up and say: "I am a landscape contractor and I am opposed to leaf blower abuse. I support a ban." Citizens everywhere must organize to take back their right to peace and quiet by drafting a plan that meets the needs of the local community.

Landscapers have to be on constant guard against theft of these supposedly indispensable and costly pieces of landscape equipment, while nobody is too worried about the theft of a corn broom. The broom has no on-and-off switch and it runs on orange juice and toast. At the end of the day when using a broom there is no buying, mixing and spilling of the oil and gas mixture and no carbon footprint. One of the principles in the design science known as Permaculture is to “Use small and slow solutions”. The use of the broom meets this principle perfectly, especially when using the classic witches’ broom made from sustainably grown bamboo. My ride of choice. That’s why my next bumper sticker will say, “My other truck is a broom.”




Ken Foster, the owner of Terra Nova Ecological Landscaping and the author of Recipes for a New Earth is the proud winner of the "Broom vs. Leaf Blower Challenge.  www.http://player.tout.com/tout/mqp8uv

The Upside of Upcycling

I don’t usually get all gushy about cement. As a self-professed “softscaper” and plant lover I don’t have much use for the stuff. I opt for plantscapes and permeable surfaces over concrete. Then urbanite comes along and I’m just about ready to write a love sonnet.
“Urbanite” is the affectionate name for re-purposed concrete pieces. It’s a funny made-up-name for a common solution to a waste problem. I would even argue that the concept of urbanite could be raised to the level of metaphor because of its transformative role in restoring impervious, compacted, lifeless areas. This common resource is surprisingly available and is often used by creative landscape designers who seek building materials sourced from the urban waste stream. In ecological landscaping, urbanite is a material of choice and it has been a darling of the Permaculture movement for good reason.

 Surprisingly available resource[/caption]Urbanite is easy to like for these reasons:

• It is a free material. However, it does take time to locate, and labor to load and transport.
• It is upcycled, which is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into materials or products with new value.
• There is no mining involved, unlike much of the raw material found in landscape supply yards which are mined in quarries. Flagstone and mossy field stone, for example. Yup, there’s a hole where that bolder once was.
• It is versatile. It can be used for a variety of hardscape purposes like patios, walkways, stairs, retaining walls, raised garden beds – and even herb spirals.
• It lasts. Isn’t that the definition of concrete?

The term “Cradle to Cradle” applies nicely to urbanite because it has been repurposed and can be repurposed ad infinitum. The upside of upcycling urbanite is that the embodied energy of the original concrete is captured. Embodied energy is a term to describe all of the energy that goes into the production of a product. It includes the manufacture, acquisition of natural resources, mining, transport, office administration and all other aspects of producing a product.  Reuse of building materials commonly saves about 95% of the embodied energy that would otherwise be wasted.


Its usability is urbanites primary benefit because the manufacturing process of concrete has one of the heaviest carbon footprints of all building materials. The high temperature needed for cement manufacturing makes it an energy-intensive process. The average energy input required to make one ton of cement is 4.7 million BTUs—the equivalent of burning about 418 pounds of coal. For ready-mix cement it takes from 1,075 to 4,085 BTUs per pound. A BTU, short for British Thermal Unit, is a basic measure of thermal (heat) energy and is one way to measure embodied energy. Comparatively, it takes 123 BTUs per pound to produce adobe brick.
One of the tasks of ecological landscaping is to reduce overall inputs by sourcing materials with low BTUs per pound or by finding ways to capture embodied energy by upcycling, enter urbanite. Often in the process of redesigning a landscape existing concrete walkways and patios can be carefully deconstructed and turned into urbanite for the regenerated landscape. A brilliant way of capturing embodied energy right on site.
Honor the hard work that goes into urbanite installation.[/caption]While the “embodied energy” assessment is an important piece in knowing the environmental impact of a product like cement, true full impact accounting takes it a step further by assessing all impacts on people and planet. In business this is referred to as “triple bottom line” accounting which includes “profit and loss” analysis in all the three realms of economy, ecology and equity. This includes considering the impacts of things like:  Strip Mining, Clear Cutting, CO2 Production, Air Pollution, Fossil Fuel Use, Energy Consumption, Resource Depletion, Polluted Runoff, Disposal Problems, Worker Health Problems, Support of Irresponsible Companies, Damage to Cultures and the Effect on Communities. This is a stunning list of impacts that to a surprising degree come with the production of cement, the “feedstock” of urbanite. While each of these impacts can be debated, what is clear is that urbanite is a creative way to turn a nasty problem into an elegant solution.
 Raised Garden beds using 'urbanite'.[/caption]The installation of urbanite takes some forethought. Like with other hardscape materials (such as flagstone), it is important to give urbanite a sturdy foundation. For instance, in preparation for installing walkways, patios or retaining walls, it is best to excavate 5 or 6 inches below grade and then install drainage rock and tamp well. The result is both good drainage and a solid foundation. This is important for liability reasons and because there are few things as disconcerting as a shaky retaining wall or shifting stepping stones.Because concrete pieces are often chunky careful stacking is best done using guidelines from the mason trade. Dry-stacking, which means the process of laying pieces together without mortar keeps the material expense low. For a safe, tight result stack level using a hammer and chisel to correct uneven surfaces as you go always using protective eye wear. Because urbanite is heavy stuff get plenty of help when lifting and use your knees! Finally, a new stain is a good finishing touch. This can be achieved using non-toxic stains like iron sulphate (which is also is a fertilizer) or a product called SoyCrete for that new finished look. With all these environmentally and socially friendly reasons, when it is designed well and installed correctly we are very happy to give it the affectionate moniker of “urbanite”.   - Ken Foster