Thank you, Mark Muenster, for your letter about two-cycle gas-powered leaf blowers (“Ban two-cycle leaf blowers,” Our Readers’ Views, March 28). I’ve been listening to them blow through my neighborhood every week for years and have had many of the same thoughts. They are not only extremely noisy and emit large amounts of pollution, but they also negatively affect our air quality as they keep dust, pollen, and other pollutants airborne for all of us to breathe.
For all of those companies and government agencies who are trying to convince us how concerned they are about sustainability, carbon emissions and climate change, I’d like to suggest an easy first step to show us they are serious. I suggest they immediately prohibit the use of all gas-powered leaf blowers on their premises.
Of course, then we’d need someone to invent manual tools that could be used to move leaves and debris around. Oh wait, that’s right – somebody did. They are called “rakes” and “brooms”! Plus, they are quiet and non-polluting and provide good exercise (contributing to healthier employees).
In my observations, people using rakes and brooms tend to finish the job more quickly, while many of those using leaf-blowers often keep blowing, even when there’s nothing left to blow.
