It seems like everywhere I look in Miami, I pass a leaf blower. Living in a condo-based society, leaf-blowers seem to just come with the package. I decided to research it a little, because it seems like such a wasteful activity. In my complex, blowers are sometimes used to move around 3 leaves, literally! In another building nearby, the gardeners spend lots of time blowing leaves and cut grass onto Brickell Ave. This, of course, gets blown all over the place within seconds, as the cars are speeding by.
Doing some research online, the biggest opposers tend to be complaining about noise and emissions, both of which are constantly being addressed by the manufacturers. Professional gardeners say that it’s unreasonable to consider cleaning in any other way. Hmm, maybe…although this guy disagrees.
But the big issue that I see, and is discussed only on the county website is this – all of that crap that is being blown out of that way is going into the storm drains and clogging them up. Then we have flooding.
Miami-Dade says:
Avoid Using a Leaf Blower: Although time consuming, your best bet is to gather fallen leaves with a rake and either dispose of them or use them as mulch. A leaf blower only moves leaves towards storm drains causing clogging which leads to flooding.
Interestingly enough, a "Water Conservation Tips" brochure from the American Red Cross – Greater Miami & the Keys, recommends "using a broom or a blower instead of a hose to clean leaves & other debris from your driveway or sidewalk." Sure it saves water, but you can’t recommend that, come on people!
The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute has a ton of information on leaf blowers, including a really long Leaf Blower flash presentation. The main focus is on noise and dust, and no mention of storm drains or clean-up after use is mentioned. I don’t expect that leaf blowers will be going anywhere anytime soon, but it is reasonable to expect some sort of enforcement about where the debris is being blown. Would it be possible to use the blowers to create a pile, then dispose of that debris properly? It would be tough, but I see that as an ideal compromise.
3 Responses to “Leaf Blowers Everywhere”
I think I would have had a sad, sad childhood in Jersey if my parents had used a leaf blower during the fall. We raked and raked, stacked up big piles and then went nuts running and jumping in them. Not quite as efficient as a leaf blower, but much more fun.
We’re gonna blow our trash over onto your lawn…OK?
That’s the way I’ve always seen these useless devices…
The secret/real problem with leaf blowers is that there are practically no emissions controls on those suckers; they pollute like crazy! Way worse than cars.