Fair Warning: I have climbed onto my environmental pulpit for the afternoon.
Consider this -- One leaf blower generates as much carbon dioxide in one hour of operation, as a car driving 100 miles. Leaf blowers, unlike cars, are not regulated for carbon dioxide emissions.
Consider this -- Did you know that the average leaf blower runs at about 75-85 decibels, and can be heard at a still loud 50+ decibels over 50 feet away? Prolonged noises above 50 decibels can damage hearing and even cause a measurable increase in stress hormones in people, like your neighbors.
Consider this -- Leaf blowers have small two-cycle engines that also emit other airborne pollutants, so by using a leaf blower you're impacting the air quality in your own yard.
Why not give your neighbors' ears and your power blower a break and pull out your rake this fall? Raking is great exercise, and by the authority granted by my environmental scientist degree, I hereby absolve you from going to the gym on days that you rake. (So, you avoid even MORE carbon dioxide emissions by not driving to the gym! Bonus!!)
Is your yard too big to tackle with a rake? How about making a pledge to rake some portions and blow others? Could you go one step further and compost some or all of your leaves and reduce your carbon footprint even further? Give it some thought. If you are already a committed recycler (or even if you aren't), why not start thinking about your carbon footprint and about ways to make it smaller.
As for our family, we don't own a leaf blower, and I don't think you can tell by looking at our yard. I definitely don't miss the noise or the gas smell in the garage. Bonus -- I get to crunch through the leaves in the fall, and our kids love jumping in piles of leaves that we rake up.
No comments:
Post a Comment