Leaf Blowers Create Noise Pollution

[Shepherd]

Sebastopol is considering a leaf blower ban, which I support. Following is a rough draft from which I will draw articles to submit for publication. I welcome your criticisms on how to improve it. What would you cut, add, or change? What has your personal experience with leaf blowers been? I hope to include comments by others in some of the articles. I welcome comments by both those who support and oppose leaf blowers. Some of us hope that the organizing we are doing in Sebastopol to ban leaf blowers will spread to other Sonoma County cities.
Shepherd

Leaf Blowers Create Damaging Noise Pollution

Pre-publication DRAFT: CRITICISMS SOLICITED, TO [email protected]

By Shepherd Bliss (1380 words)

Even as a child, when people smoked cigarettes near me, I would walk away. My instincts were that the smoke was not good for me. The problem with the loud, terrorizing noise of leaf blowers that invades homes is that one cannot always walk away easily. Sleep, work, caring for children or the sick, meals, or other important home-based activities cannot continue.

Second hand smoke has been proven to be fatal to those most vulnerable. You do not need to smoke to be hurt; you merely need to be near someone smoking. Leaf blower noise also damages, especially the more vulnerable. Smoking and leaf blowing are both public health hazards. Yet some minimize suffering at the hands of leaf blower noise and fumes, as people did for years with respect to second hand smoke.

As a child I heard that asthma “is all in your head.” Those without asthma sometimes cannot understand what it’s like not to be able to breath. Those whithout sound sensitivity can have trouble understanding how certain noises can be debilitating. Noise pollution is one of the most pernicious and deserves more attention and education of citizens.

Some disabilities are obvious, so a caring society and town make laws to accommodate and protect those with disabilities such as blindness. Sound trauma is among the many “invisible disabilities.” Once triggered, it can shut down a person, or he or she may fire back. The consequences can be harmful for the triggered individual and others.

Perhaps the discussion of leaf blowers stimulated by the proposed ban currently before the Sebastopol City Council can be a teaching moment to learn about noise pollution and how it impacts people differently. Many good reasons exist for banning leaf blowers, especially the damage they do to the environment by the use of fossil fuels. This article will focus on the noise pollution problem and its harm to humans.

Fortunately, my birth city, Santa Monica, outlawed leaf blowing a while ago. Dozens of peace-loving California cities and hundreds of other American cities have banned this threat. It’s time for Sebastopol to benefit the quality of life of its citizen by enacting a law with teeth against leaf blowing and enforcing it with stiff fines. Citizen groups seeking to ban leaf blowers have been organized around the U.S., and one is emerging in Sebastopol.

The first California city to ban leaf blowers was apparently Carmel in l975. Beverly Hills followed in l 976, Sacramento in 1991, Los Angeles in l997 and many others during that time and since then over the last nearly 35 years.

So millions living in small to large cities in California are protected from leaf blower damage, but not the some 8000 human souls in our sweet small town of Sebastopol. We lag behind, rather than taking the leadership that Sebastopol could.

Some argue that leaf blowers are faster than rakes and brooms. “Grandmother Proves Rake and Broom as Fast as Leaf Blowers” headlines a 1998 article about Diane Wolfberg of Los Angeles. In three tests conducted by the Department of Water and Power she cleaned areas using rakes or brooms faster than any of the battery-powered blowers and almost as fast as the gas-powered blowers. Go, girl, go!

Loud noises, including leaf blowers, can cause hearing loss. My father served during World War II next to anti-aircraft guns, which permanently hurt his hearing. Many rock musicians are hard of hearing.

The health hazards of loud noises are documented at Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, quieting noise pollution. Among the many health effects are the following: greater risk of heart attacks, damage to the endocrine system and stomach, depressed immunity, increased adrenaline, change in heart rate, elevated blood pressure and cholesterol levels, social discord, impaired communication, heightened social conflicts, and increased psychological, social and emotional problems.

The “grin-n-bear it” and “stiff upper lip” attitude of those who contend that small town living must include excessively loud noise is not something that I appreciate. This was a familiar response in the early years to the critics of second hand smoke and the alleged rights of smokers to harm others.

Others joke about this issue, as they used to about second hand smoke, ridiculing those who complain. For me, it is no joke. It is an issue of survival and where I can live in relative peace. Mocking people for their disabilities is an ancient, childish practice. It should not be tolerated among adults.

“Farm Without Harm” is the motto of my organic farm. Many people come to Sebastopol seeking a more peaceful and sustainable life. We could all benefit from following the ancient oath “First do not harm.” Leaf blowers do substantial harm. Fortunately, there are options in this case, such as quiet, and sometimes faster rakes and brooms.

We are each bio-chemically distinct. So we each have our own threshold for noise, beyond which we cannot tolerate sound without damage. Mine is lower than most; many have a low threshold. Leaf blowers, even the better ones, tend to hum at 65-99 decibels (depending on how close you are), which is high. Even with ear plugs and ear muffs, this is beyond the tolerance of some. Many cannot sleep, relax, or remain calm under such duress.

I am deliberately focusing only on leaf blowers here for various reasons. Other loud tools—such as chain saws and lawn mowers—are not nearly as annoying as the whining noise of a gas blower. Leaf blowers also have an effective, quiet alternative in brooms and rakes.

Studies reveal that 15 to 20% of the population has a more sensitive nervous system. Such people are called HSPs (Highly Sensitive Persons). They can be very creative, but they can also suffer, especially when living in loud and bright urban settings.

Somali pirates, according to a Nov. 19 Associated Press article, were recently thwarted from taking a ship “by private guards who fired off guns and a high-decibel noise device.” Leaf blowers do indeed have a weapon-like quality. They evoke the deadly discharge of other hand-held weapons deliberately employed against people.

“Sound was used for centuries as a method of torture,” Dr. Walter Carlin, Director of the Speech and Hearing Institute, reminds us. “Place a bell over a person’s head and ring it, and eventually the person will go crazy.” Leaf blowers drive me crazy, I must admit, breaking my concentration, capacity to think, and serenity.

Noise reduces the accuracy of work, especially on complex tasks. Noise “seems to hinder work efficiency,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Studies have confirmed additional effects of noise exposure to include exhaustion, absentmindedness, mental stress, and absenteeism.

For those of us, such as myself, with close friends who were literally tortured in war zones by noise, we experience what is called “secondary trauma.” Some similar sounds, especially leaf blower, trigger that trauma.

Noise pollution “triggers other physical ailments, stress in marriage, lack of sleep, and failing productivity,” adds Dr. Carlin.

To the leaf blower warriors out there, I request that you get out a rake or broom. The exercise can benefit you and would not damage your neighbors with your addiction. Leaf blowers are surely what a local farmer describes as “the Hummer of the garden.” May they go the way of declining Hummer sales.

It is bad enough to unknowingly bring suffering into the lives of others, but worse when they make it clear that you are hurting them and ask you to stop, at first politely. But you continue the damage. Such a war against leaves could escalate.

My farm is willing to accept donations of leaves seeking a final resting place. They become mulch, will break down into compost, return to the Earth to create soil, and nourish my tasty berries and apples.

Grass grows and leaves fall. Is that really so bad? Must this natural cycle be combated with loud, obnoxious, and noxious blowing? “The leaves just blow back,” a neighbor observed. “It makes no sense. It is lame, foolish, and a waste of time.”

To all, I would ask for your mercy before operating a leaf blower to the possible detriment of a neighbor.

May you have a quiet, restful, and serene day and night, without interruption by any leaf blowers or nightmares stimulated by them.

[feltonius]

Hi Sheperd, nice post, and happy to be your first feedback-giver. Hope your beautiful farm is thriving...

My first reaction was: this issue, of describing this as an assault on the disabled, is somewhat reminiscent to the wi-fi issue (don't want to dredge up a debate on this boondoggle though, please no). I mean, who doesn't sympathize with someone who's struggling with some serious challenges? We ALL line up to help the needy, right? But then again, false profits are not above using the needy for their political gain. In that case we were asked to balance the alleged potential suffering of a very tiny minority against the desires of the larger majority that wanted the benefits of a convenience. What is the best overall way to convince the majority that giving up this convenience is necessary? In that case, "its possibly going to hurt me" was really the only argument against comprehensive wifi, but in the blower case, is it really the best approach to play up the suffering that this convenience is causing people, or will that just alienate folks who will see that and think "what a load of B.S. that is, I know how loud they are and how long they run and its just not as bad as they are trying to make it sound"

So I would make the point that noise is pollution and causes some pain, more for some than others, but would caution against overmuch exaggerating:

a) the harmfulness of the sound pollution caused by blowers (are we really making fun of someone's handicaps when we want a leaf free walking path to our home's front door? I do not see it that way at all, in fact that struck me as an unfair attack on innocent landscapers and those who hire them)

b) the helplessness of people to take care of themselves during a 15 minute sonic attack by the neighbor's blower (headphones, earplugs, coffee breaks, neighborhood walks are all options)

so I guess my first feedback is that in making your point you might be weakening your argument and losing some voters because it sounds a bit much. yes, they are noisy. but I dont think anyone has been deliberately and maliciously trying to hurt the sonically challenged.

that said, I hate blowers too. They really are noisy and the quieter ways are ALMOST as fast and given the negative externalities of sound and burning fossil fuel they are actually MORE "efficient." That is the strongest part of your argument, IMO. Airplanes, lawnmowers, street sweepers, and garbage trucks are also noisy. rotary push-mower anyone? horse-drawn carriages instead of garbage trucks? the jobless sweeping the streets with brooms? These noise-polluters aren't on the chopping block because the alternatives aren't close to viable right now.

An issue you don't mention, but I've been lately somewhat interested in, is what do the people say who take care of other people's landscapes for a living? So far the only people I've seen engaging in this debate are folks who aren't personally going to have to change their behavior as a result of the legislation. Perhaps the article could be strengthened with a few quotes from someone for whom this is a many times daily task to be done. One on either side of the issue would be ideal. Any long term use of a small motor tends to make my own arm feel like its about to be vibrated right off. I know this is an op-ed and you have no obligation to air the views of the other side, but since you are soliciting feedback, that's certainly something that would help make it more thought provoking for me as a reader.

I would be interested to read about the before-after effects of the ban on the landscaping business in your home town of Santa Monica. I wonder if there were already businesses doing it without blowers before the ban, or did it take a ban to force them to switch over? Did some of them forsake Santa Monica and say they would now only operate in Venice Beach or other places that allow them to operate with the methods they've found to be most profitable? At least a small amount of profitability is in fact part of sustainability. I think there's a strong argument to be made against people who would whine they can't be profitable without leaf blowers, but yet, they ALL use them, it would seem...so what IS their view?

Are there any businesses in Sebastopol that do landscaping without blowers already? I'm personally desperately seeking one. To the point where I've almost considered posting to, God forbid, Craig's List....