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One thing that really pissed me off living in Los Angeles was the fact that leaf-blowers were technically "banned" but there was zero enforcement. Leaf-blowers
by matt-attack 4y ago
One thing that really pissed me off living in Los Angeles was the fact that leaf-blowers were technically "banned" but there was zero enforcement. Leaf-blowers are literally everywhere and at all times of the day. The noise pollution is just ridiculous. Especially offensive when I would watch a gardener using them in the street blowing cuttings into a, progressively, smaller and smaller pile, all so he could scoop them up to take them away. Basically the leaf-blower was just being used a a lazy man's broom.
- prepend 4y ago> lazy man's broom. Or time efficient man. Lazy is a really good motivator. This is like saying automating a work form is bad because automation is just a “lazy man’s paper form.”
- clairity 4y agoleaf blowers are low on my list of things to fix in LA, but i don't like them on balance mainly because of your last point. it's almost never faster or better to use a leaf blower over the combination of rake and broom. it's just flawed mental bias that a machine is 'less work' than manual tools. in my neighborhood, laborers use blowers to blow shit randomly into the air and the gutters (and into my windows) rather than being picked up and put in the trash/compost bin. blowers create pollution via that random action as well as via their exhaust, and that pollution combined with their ineffectiveness make them a net negative to me, not the noise. while i don't love noise either, any outdoor labor will produce some noise, so noise is unavoidable, which is why it's limited to working hours by statute (after 8am). car/motorcycle exhaust noise, on the other hand, is entirely artificial, unnecessary, aggressive, and offensive, and should not only be banned, but punished heavily.