6 ms·

Don't use leaf blowers; those are a huge source of outdoor particulates.

cwkoss 3y ago
I got a rechargeable battery powered leaf blower last year and love it. Plenty powerful for my needs, and ~10 mins is almost always plenty for all I need to get stuff cleaned up. But i suppose they might temporarily kick up a bunch of dust, regardless of power source...
- cowsandmilk 3y ago
  > they might temporarily kick up a bunch of dust To me, this is why raking just makes sense. I can’t stand the dust from leaf blowers. And often, just mowing over the leaves is adequate and better for the environment.
  - cwkoss 3y ago
    Yep, I only leaf blow on the sidewalks and concrete paths that get some extra grass leaking over when I mow the adjacent areas. New thing I'm trying this year is to pull garden weeds and toss them on top of the grass right before a mow as a two-bird-with-one-stone compost in place free grass fertilizer.
Analemma_ 3y ago
Basically don't use anything with a two-stroke engine, they are horrible for the environment. There's an astonishing-but-true fact that California's leaf blowers make more particulate pollution than all the cars and trucks in the state put together because two-strokes are so dirty.
- cyberax 3y ago
  Two-stroke engines are bad not only for the environment, but also for the people who operate them. These engines not only produce a ton of particulate emissions, but also a lot of half-burned and unburned hydrocarbons. Including formaldehyde, benzene, and all kinds of other crap. You can at least filter out particulates with an N99 mask, but it does nothing against hydrocarbons.
  - armada651 3y ago
    Not to mention that a lot of people use them without hearing protection and given how notoriously loud they are they're also giving themselves hearing damage.
- joelcollinsdc 3y ago
  So a four stroke leaf blower would be ok?
  - aidenn0 3y ago
    All that weight would probably be bad for your back...
    - aerio 3y ago
      That's why I dual wield two normal leaf blowers instead!
  - enragedcacti 3y ago
    they are much better than a 2-stroke but still far worse than e.g. a modern vehicle because the emissions technology is either much much simpler or not present at all.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
toomuchtodo 3y ago
Sales of new gas mowers and leaf blowers are banned in California starting July 1st, 2024. "As California Goes, so Goes the Nation." https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB1346 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtm... > Brand new gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers will soon become scarce in California. In October 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law banning the sale of gas-powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers, as well as any other equipment using small off-road engines, also known as SOREs. These engines traditionally power equipment used in lawn care and landscaping. > Small engine-based tools are a surprisingly large source of carbon emissions and air pollution. According to the California Air Resources Board, just one hour of gas leaf blower use is the equivalent of driving 1,100 miles. Running a gas lawn mower for the same period equates to a 300-mile drive. https://www.cnet.com/home/yard-and-outdoors/loud-gas-belching-leaf-blowers-will-soon-be-illegal-in-1-state-is-this-just-the-beginning/ https://www.cnet.com/home/yard-and-outdoors/loud-gas-belchin... https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/msprog/offroad/sm_en_fs.pdf https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/msprog/offroad/sm_en_fs.pdf https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/04/30/gas-leaf-blower-mower-bans-spread-us-fight-climate-change/11746893002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/04/30/gas-le... ("Gas leaf blowers and lawn mowers are shockingly bad for the planet. Bans are beginning to spread.") (electric landscaping tools are at parity, check out the EGO brand for an example: https://egopowerplus.com/ https://egopowerplus.com/)
- throwoutway 3y ago
  The person you are replying to did not mention gas (just lead blowers in general) but your post seems to only focus on gas leaf blowers. California did not ban electric leaf blowers did they?
  - toomuchtodo 3y ago
    Electric leaf blowers are annoying, but not burning fuel with zero emissions controls such that gas landscaping appliances are, hence bans on the gas versions causing wild amounts of pollution for the amount of fuel burned. There is a reason combustion vehicles are mandated to have a catalytic converter, and why diesel vehicles must filter particulates.
mfgs 3y ago
Do you mean a petrol leaf blower? Because of the motor emissions or the blowing?
- aidenn0 3y ago
  It's a fair question, and the answer is "I don't know." Petrol leaf blowers are typically 2-stroke engines which are incredibly polluting (even in an absolute sense compared to a modern 4-stroke engine for a mid-sized saloon). They also kick up a lot of dust. I'm not sure what the balance is. Certainly for e.g. NO2 and hydrocarbons switching to electric will be a huge win, but I'm not sure how much/long the particulates kicked up by blowing contribute. [edit] I found a report[1]; on page 22, the median estimated "fugitive dust" emmisions of blowing on a shoulder, or curb is about 480g (1lb) of PM2.5 per hour. It does note that this is a pure calculation and not empirically tested though. The entire range of their calculations put fugitive dust as higher particulate emissions than the exhaust (though the exhaust particulate of a 3hp leaf-blower (i.e. high-powered commercial) is already nearly 2 orders of magnitude higher than a modern light-duty vehicle and a 0.8hp (i.e. typical personal-use leafblower)). 1: https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/Health%20and%20Environmental%20Impacts%20of%20Leaf%20Blowers.pdf https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/Health%20...

I got a rechargeable battery powered leaf blower last year and love it. Plenty powerful for my needs, and ~10 mins is almost always plenty for all I need to get stuff cleaned up. But i suppose they might temporarily kick up a bunch of dust, regardless of power source...

cowsandmilk 3y ago
> they might temporarily kick up a bunch of dust To me, this is why raking just makes sense. I can’t stand the dust from leaf blowers. And often, just mowing over the leaves is adequate and better for the environment.
- cwkoss 3y ago
  Yep, I only leaf blow on the sidewalks and concrete paths that get some extra grass leaking over when I mow the adjacent areas. New thing I'm trying this year is to pull garden weeds and toss them on top of the grass right before a mow as a two-bird-with-one-stone compost in place free grass fertilizer.

Analemma_ 3y ago

Basically don't use anything with a two-stroke engine, they are horrible for the environment. There's an astonishing-but-true fact that California's leaf blowers make more particulate pollution than all the cars and trucks in the state put together because two-strokes are so dirty.

cyberax 3y ago
Two-stroke engines are bad not only for the environment, but also for the people who operate them. These engines not only produce a ton of particulate emissions, but also a lot of half-burned and unburned hydrocarbons. Including formaldehyde, benzene, and all kinds of other crap. You can at least filter out particulates with an N99 mask, but it does nothing against hydrocarbons.
- armada651 3y ago
  Not to mention that a lot of people use them without hearing protection and given how notoriously loud they are they're also giving themselves hearing damage.
joelcollinsdc 3y ago
So a four stroke leaf blower would be ok?
- aidenn0 3y ago
  All that weight would probably be bad for your back...
  - aerio 3y ago
    That's why I dual wield two normal leaf blowers instead!
- enragedcacti 3y ago
  they are much better than a 2-stroke but still far worse than e.g. a modern vehicle because the emissions technology is either much much simpler or not present at all.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

toomuchtodo 3y ago

Sales of new gas mowers and leaf blowers are banned in California starting July 1st, 2024. "As California Goes, so Goes the Nation." https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB1346 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtm... > Brand new gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers will soon become scarce in California. In October 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law banning the sale of gas-powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers, as well as any other equipment using small off-road engines, also known as SOREs. These engines traditionally power equipment used in lawn care and landscaping. > Small engine-based tools are a surprisingly large source of carbon emissions and air pollution. According to the California Air Resources Board, just one hour of gas leaf blower use is the equivalent of driving 1,100 miles. Running a gas lawn mower for the same period equates to a 300-mile drive. https://www.cnet.com/home/yard-and-outdoors/loud-gas-belching-leaf-blowers-will-soon-be-illegal-in-1-state-is-this-just-the-beginning/ https://www.cnet.com/home/yard-and-outdoors/loud-gas-belchin... https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/msprog/offroad/sm_en_fs.pdf https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/msprog/offroad/sm_en_fs.pdf https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/04/30/gas-leaf-blower-mower-bans-spread-us-fight-climate-change/11746893002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/04/30/gas-le... ("Gas leaf blowers and lawn mowers are shockingly bad for the planet. Bans are beginning to spread.") (electric landscaping tools are at parity, check out the EGO brand for an example: https://egopowerplus.com/ https://egopowerplus.com/)

throwoutway 3y ago
The person you are replying to did not mention gas (just lead blowers in general) but your post seems to only focus on gas leaf blowers. California did not ban electric leaf blowers did they?
- toomuchtodo 3y ago
  Electric leaf blowers are annoying, but not burning fuel with zero emissions controls such that gas landscaping appliances are, hence bans on the gas versions causing wild amounts of pollution for the amount of fuel burned. There is a reason combustion vehicles are mandated to have a catalytic converter, and why diesel vehicles must filter particulates.

mfgs 3y ago

Do you mean a petrol leaf blower? Because of the motor emissions or the blowing?

aidenn0 3y ago
It's a fair question, and the answer is "I don't know." Petrol leaf blowers are typically 2-stroke engines which are incredibly polluting (even in an absolute sense compared to a modern 4-stroke engine for a mid-sized saloon). They also kick up a lot of dust. I'm not sure what the balance is. Certainly for e.g. NO2 and hydrocarbons switching to electric will be a huge win, but I'm not sure how much/long the particulates kicked up by blowing contribute. [edit] I found a report[1]; on page 22, the median estimated "fugitive dust" emmisions of blowing on a shoulder, or curb is about 480g (1lb) of PM2.5 per hour. It does note that this is a pure calculation and not empirically tested though. The entire range of their calculations put fugitive dust as higher particulate emissions than the exhaust (though the exhaust particulate of a 3hp leaf-blower (i.e. high-powered commercial) is already nearly 2 orders of magnitude higher than a modern light-duty vehicle and a 0.8hp (i.e. typical personal-use leafblower)). 1: https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/Health%20and%20Environmental%20Impacts%20of%20Leaf%20Blowers.pdf https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/Health%20...