Residents of Inman Park in Atlanta, Georgia, should voluntarily restrict their use of gas-powered leaf blowers (GLB) to the following times and days: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday, noon to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, and not at all on Sunday.
Noise from GLBs is a source of unhappiness and inconvenience for many Inman Park residents. More than that, GLB noise can damage human health as well. The CDC, the EPA, and OSHA all identify leaf blowers as a source of harmful noise. Among the people most at risk are those who work from home, people who work night shifts, children, the retired, the elderly, the sick, and of course the landscape crew itself.
It's not just humans. A scientific study in 2018 found that the noise we humans generate affects wildlife, too. It alters stress hormones in birds, for example. One consequence is that chicks nearer to noise tend to be smaller, with poorer feather development.
Other negative effects of GLBs are well documented, especially with regard to air pollution. You could drive your car, with its efficient pollution-control technology, all the way to California, and you still wouldn't come close to producing the same amount of certain pollutants as GLBs create in the course of an ordinary day of leaf-blowing in Inman Park.
Alternatives to GLBs exist. A battery-powered blower is one example. More and more yard maintenance companies are going all-electric, including in Atlanta. Moreover, hundreds of cities and towns have already adopted restrictions on the use of GLBs.
By signing this petition, you are pledging to limit your GLB use (if any) to the specified days and hours, and you are encouraging others to abide by these modest, voluntary restrictions as well.
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What is this “cleaning off” argument for using leaf blowers as if the leaves magically jump into yard waste bags? Using a broom and pan I get my leaves off the driveway and into the bags in half the time the paid yard hands clock up the bill blowing leaves from one place to another.
If you must live a life of lazy decadence please live in a box with a roof terrace, fake grass and a few low maintenance shrubs and leave the gardens to those who like connecting with nature, neighbors and getting some outdoor exercise.
And where is the modern low noise energy efficient solution from one of those forward thinking companies that make better vacuum cleaners, hand driers and air moving gadgets that licensed yard people should be required to use?
Thanks for your comment, Chris.