INITIATIVE TO MOVE TOWARD A GREEN FUTURE IN COMMERCIAL LAWN CARE IN BELLPORT
For purposes of public health, worker health, and quality of life
 
Residents of Bellport Village can join together to address the pressing environmental and personal harmful damage of gas-powered lawn equipment used by commercial landscapers in the Village of Bellport. Although the Board was presented with a petition and relevant research in September, 2020, they took very modest action. The only action they took was to modify the code so that landscapers can operate any machinery from 8am to 6pm, Monday-Saturday: that is, 10 hours a day, 6 days a week.  Together, we can do better.
 
Our goal. Nearby towns (East Hampton, Southampton, Bronxville, and many more) have already taken this initiative and SUCCESSFULLY TRANSITIONED to all electric lawn equipment. Bellport now has the opportunity to join neighboring communities and a national trend in this effort.
 
WE ARE CALLING FOR THE FOLLOWING PLAN:
1.     A ban on the use of gas-powered leaf blowers by commercial landscapers by Memorial Day, 2022.
2.     A ban on the use of all gas-powered lawn equipment (hedge clippers, mowers, etc.) by commercial landscapers by Memorial Day, 2023.
3.     There is NO request that residents have to change the equipment they personally use.
 
FACT: FEASIBILITY
GOOD NEWS: MAYOR FELL IS WORKING NOW TO BAN GAS POWERED EQUIPMENT ON THE GOLF COURSE.  Mayor Fell, as quoted in the Long Island Advance, April 15, 2021:“’We’re meeting with landscapers about the possibility of going from gas-powered lawnmowers and grass clippers to electric,’ he said. ‘The golf course already started the transition with hedge trimmers, string trimmers, backpack blowers and pole saws,’ he said of the move away from two-cycle engine tools which require oil and gas, to battery-operated, reducing the village’s carbon footprint.”  https://is.gd/z9xXwB
Question: This is great news for the golf course, but what about the rest of the Village?
 
FACT: EMISSIONS
“The amount of CO (carbon monoxide) emitted from a typical backpack leaf blower for just 1 hour is equal to CO coming from the tailpipe of a current year automobile operating for over 8 hours.”
[source: NY Department of Environmental Conservation https://is.gd/Y5KEhx ]
 
FACT: NOISE POLLUTION AND HEARING LOSS
Passers-by, residents, and neighbors––even inside their homes––have no escape from the noise pollution. Noise from commercial leaf blowers typically is 75 decibels of noise measured from 50 feet, far exceeding accepted guidelines for health, safety, work and rest.
A study conducted by Citizens for a Quieter Sacramento found that of nearly 10,000 workers surveyed, more than 30 percent had noise-induced hearing damage and for nearly 15 percent of them, it was severe.
[source: https://www.nonoise.org/quietnet/cqs/leafblow.htm ]
 
FACT: REDUCED COST OF BATTERY-OPERATED EQUIPMENT
Quote: “The Office for Sustainability (OFS) [at the University of Arkansas] has done a review of the current 2-stroke engines (gas) used by our grounds crew in comparison to battery powered alternatives (battery). The OFS has determined that the gas engines are more expensive and have higher emissions than their battery counterparts.”
[source: “Gas vs Batter Powered Maintenance Tools on the University of Arkansas Campus,” July, 2017]
 
In terms of the environment, worker and resident health and economics, there is NO REASON NOT to transition to battery-operated equipment.