Grandmother Proves Rake and Broom as Fast as Leaf Blowers
(January 8, 1998 press release from Zero Air Pollution, Los Angeles)

In fighting the ban on gas powered leaf blowers gardeners have argued that it would take them twice as long to do jobs if they had to use rakes and brooms. But Diane Wolfberg, a Palisadian grandmother in her late 50s, proved them wrong in tests conducted by the Department of Water & Power Leafblower Task Force last Thursday.

In three tests involving gas powered leaf blowers and battery powered leaf blowers, Diane cleaned the areas using rakes or brooms faster than any of the battery powered blowers and almost as fast as the gas powered leaf blowers and she did a better job in cleaning up the areas.

The Task Force, formed at the direction of the Los Angeles City Council, is composed of two representatives from the gardeners' associations and one representative each from the landscape contractors association, the dealers, DWP, the Department of Parks and Recreation, General Services, the City Council, and the homeowners. It is evaluating electrical alternatives to the gas powered leaf blowers. When it was proposed that the electrical equipment be tested against gas powered leaf blowers which would be the baseline for comparison, the homeowner representative, Jack Allen, also of the Palisades, suggested that rakes and brooms be included in the comparison.

Wolfberg, who like Allen, is a member of Zero Air Pollution (ZAP), volunteered. In the first test, which required each participant to clean a pebbled cement patio area approximately 100 square feet in size with eight chairs placed on the patio, diminutive Wolfberg cleaned the area in two minutes and 30 seconds. The gas powered leaf blower operated by a large, well muscled gardener cleaned the area in two minutes but like all the leaf blowers, did not clean the area of small nuts or leaf stems, something Wolfberg was able to do.

In a second test involving the moving of paper cups and wadded paper down a 50 foot slope and back up again, she was as fast as the gas powered leaf blower and faster than the electric blowers. In the third test, requiring the cleaning of a heavy bed of pine needles and dirt down a thirty foot concrete ramp, she was the fastest and the cleanest. The leaf blowers all sent columns of damp dirt flying into the air as much as five or six feet.

Wolfberg's performance did not impress the gardeners but did impress others who had been convinced that using rakes and brooms was not feasible. The representative from DWP told Wolfberg that she had won him over.

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City of Claremont Agenda Report
Prohibition of Leaf Blowers in City Owned and Maintained Property
(excerpt from City of Claremont agenda report, 10/30/90)

Following Community Services Commission review in July of this year, staff decided to no longer use leaf blowers in the maintenance of city property. The city's leaf blower ban has added approximately one hour per day of work for each of the two tree crews. There are two people on each crew so we have added about 1/16 of a person in terms of work load. However, the grounds crews have been using a sidewalk vacuum in lieu of a leaf blower and have discovered they are actually saving an hour per day per crew. There are two crews with a total of six people so the city is saving almost 1/5 of a person in terms of workload.

Staff took a noise reading on a vacuum at 50 feet and it read 69 decibels. While this is significantly less than the 73-83 db readings on gas blowers, it is slightly more than the 65-68 db readings on electrical blowers. The vacuum noise is not nearly as annoying as the whining noise of a gas blower. The vacuum is successful in achieving a reduction in dust pollution.

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History of the Leaf Blower

19th century Japanese gardeners invent hand-held bellows to remove leaves and twigs from moss-covered soil. (1)

About 1970 Japanese engineers modernize the hand-operated blower by attaching a hose and a powerful motor. (1)

1970s Gas blowers introduced to U.S. (2,3)

1975 Carmel bans the blower.

1976 Beverly Hills bans blowers, saying they are nuisances. (4)

1985 75,000 backpack blowers sold. (1)

1986 West Hollywood, CA bans gas blowers.

1987 ·464,000 units sold. (5)

·Belvedere, CA bans gas-powered blowers.

1989 ·About 800,000 machines sold
·millions now in use with California leading the nation. (1,5)

1990 ·Indian Wells, CA bans leaf blowers.
·Piedmont, CA bans gas-powered blowers.

·City of Claremont stops using leaf blowers in the maintenance of city property and finds no net increase in labor hours. (6)

1991 ·Ad Hoc Committee to Ban Leaf Blowers asks the Sacramento City Council to ban leaf blowers; Council passes noise and time restrictions.
·Berkeley, CA City Council bans gas blowers.
·Los Altos, CA bans gas blowers by popular vote.
·Claremont, CA bans gas blowers.

1993 ·Laguna Beach, CA bans all leaf blowers.
·Mill Valley, CA bans gas blowers.

1997 ·Sales now over a million annually and growing 6-8 percent per year. (4,7)
·After an 11-year battle, Los Angeles bans gas-powered blowers within 500 feet of residences; ordinance remains controversial after passage and is twice revised.
·Lawndale bans gas blowers.
·Citizens' group in Santa Barbara qualifies ban for November ballot; voters approve ban 55 percent to 45 percent.

1998 ·Citizens in Palo Alto, Portola Valley, Sacramento, and Sunnyvale work to ban blowers.
·Menlo Park City Council bans blowers (8)
·Los Angeles ban fully implemented February 13.
·California State Senator Richard Polanco introduces SB1651 that would prohibit California cities from banning leaf blowers.
·Los Angeles Superior Court judge upholds city's ban.

Sources:

(1) Sacramento Bee, 12/8/90
(2) Lawn & Landscape Maintenance, April 1991
(3) Horticulture, November 1992
(4) Newsday, 8/11/97
(5) Wall Street Journal, 12/4/90
(6) City of Claremont agenda report, 10/30/90
(7) Ketzel Levine, The Oregonian, ca. 1997
(8) Palo Alto Daily News, 3/10/98
Various city ordinances