Lowering the Volume on Leaf Blowers : More Effort Is Needed to Improve These Cost-Efficient, but Noisy, Garden Tools

Laguna Beach isn’t the first, nor will it likely be the last, city in California to regulate or ban the use of leaf blowers. Although these hand-held or backpack machines are far more efficient than rakes, brooms or water hoses, most are obnoxiously noisy. Given their size, they also are more polluting to the atmosphere than other gasoline engines.

Still, leaf blowers do have their place--if used properly. For one thing, they save cities a tremendous amount of money. Whittier, when considering a leaf blower ban last year, estimated that cleaning its Penn Park with a broom would cost $727 (51 hours) and nearly $200 (two hours and 3,000 gallons of water) with a hose. The cost with a leaf blower: $28.50 (2 hours).

Despite this cost efficiency, however, leaf blowers are extremely unpopular among residents, especially when used in quiet neighborhoods. Under pressure from cities, leaf blower manufacturers have succeeded in making machines that are less noisy. But, even at that, their operators are notable for their lack of common sense. Turning blowers up to full throttle--especially in early morning hours--is unnecessarily provocative. Not surprisingly, residents subjected to this discourtesy are beating a path down to their city halls for redress.

An outright ban on all leaf blowers is unusual--only a few cities, including Lomita and Santa Monica, both in Los Angeles County, have adopted them. But about 90 cities in the state now regulate the type, operating time, and/or decibel levels of leaf blowers.

The Laguna Beach City Council agreed to institute an outright ban--which is expected to become effective July 1--after lively public hearings at which residents expressed deep anger at the sputtering garden tools. It wasn’t just the noise levels, however. Residents also complained about the pollution, dust and debris caused by leaf blowers.

Indeed, pollution is a concern of the State Air Resources Board as well. The ARB estimates that a gasoline-powered leaf blower operated for two hours emits as much hydrocarbon as a new car driven 3,000 miles. Because of their effect on the atmosphere, devices manufactured after 1994 must meet stricter emission standards.

The efforts aimed at controlling leaf blowers’ noise and emissions are an indication that far more attention needs to be paid to making leaf blowers better friends of the environment. That will require monitoring by cities, new technology by manufacturers, and greater courtesy by operators.