It should not come as a surprise that objections to early-morning gasoline-powered leaf blowers are widespread and prevalent among Redwood City residents.

Many of us suffer mild or more severe health effects from the toxic gases and frequently disruptive noises emitted from the daily use of gasoline-powered leaf blowers.  Landscapers employed by households or Home Owner Assocations descend daily all over this city.  We need not go into detail (but medical research abounds with data) as to how the gases from these machines can exacerbate numerous health conditions: COPD, asthma, heart disease, and even allergies.

In an article published in September 2015, The Washington Post stated, “In leaf blowers, two-stroke engines have been shown to emit contaminants comparable to large automobiles. A 2011 test by the car experts at Edmunds showed that ‘a consumer-grade leaf blower emits more pollutants than a 6,200-pound 2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor.’ The company subjected a truck, a sedan, a four-stroke and a two-stroke leaf blower to automotive emissions tests and found that under normal usage conditions – alternating the blower between high power and idle, for example – the two-stroke engine emitted nearly 299 times the hydrocarbons of the pickup truck and 93 times the hydrocarbons of the sedan. The blower emitted many times as much carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides as well. The four-stroke engine performed significantly better than the two-stroke in most of the categories, but still far worse than the car engines.” (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/how-bad-for-the-environment-are-gas-powered-leaf-blowers/2013/09/16/8eed7b9a-18bb-11e3-a628-7e6dde8f889d_story.html 

The California Air Resources Board explains the environmental harms of leaf blowers on its website: “Today, operating the best-selling commercial lawn mower for one hour emits as much smog-forming pollution as driving the best-selling 2016 passenger car, a Toyota Camry, about 300 miles – approximately the distance from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. For the best-selling commercial leaf blower, one hour of operation emits smog-forming pollution comparable to driving a 2016 Toyota Camry about 1100 miles, or approximately the distance from Los Angeles to Denver.” https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/small-engines-california#:~:text=Emissions%20are%20significant&text=For%20the%20best%2Dselling%20commercial,from%20Los%20Angeles%20to%20Denver

Tests also revealed that leaf blower users “are exposed to 10 times more ultra-fine particles than someone just standing next to a road.” (https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/03/san-jose-movement-builds-to-ban-leaf-blowers/

Many cities around us have banned gas-powered leaf blowers in a common-sense effort to protect the short-term and long-term health of its residents; Corte Madera, Sunnyvale, Los Gatos, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, and Portola Valley prohibit gasoline-powered leaf blowers. Furthermore, Bay area cities have also regulated when any leaf blowers may be used, in an effort to control noise pollution (hearing loss is a by-product of leaf blower use). Financial incentives have been used to offset the costs of “cleaner” leaf blower machines – and for those of us who can remember, once upon a time, rakes and brooms were used quite effectively to clean up our lawns and walkways. 

While the Bay area enjoys a reputation for its collective vigilance on all matters that affect air quality and climate change, it is ironic and even counterintuitive that cities like Redwood City have not acted to resolve the ongoing problem that gasoline-powered leaf blowers pose. Cost and inertia are poor excuses for not acting on a very real and obvious city-wide problem that affects our residents’ short-term and long-term health.

In light of the overwhelming scientific evidence and public support for alternatives to gas-powered leaf blowers, we ask that Redwood City make this public health and environmental issue a priority and pass an ordinance phasing out gas-power leaf blowers from our beautiful town. The air we breathe here is critical to our enjoyment of Redwood City’s claimed “Climate Best by Government Test”. 

Please JOIN https://groups.google.com/g/quietcleanrwc if you want to help make this happen.