4. 03.
Venkata Ganti( Vish )
CA-514
Altman
3rd Mar 2009
It is a tough decision to take sides in a situation like the one in the city of Palo Santo. As a well educated resident of this city, it is my responsibility to protect the environment and also be part of a decision which is for a good cause. Before choosing to oppose or support the decision to impose ban on leaf blowers I feel it’s critical to consider the advantages and disadvantages of using them. Few days back I read an article in a local news paper about the effects caused by leaf blowers to us and to the environment we live in. This article has influenced my decision to go against the banning leaf blowers.
Health and well being of civilians is always one of the top priorities of authorities and governing bodies. The news article sheds light on the ways in which leaf blowers pollute the air. The air that gushes out of the leaf blowers disturbs leaves, dust, pollen and other allergens which usually settle down on the ground. Blowing of these substances will allow mixing with the surrounding air. Since the dust particles are heavier than air; all the disturbed particles which are suspended in the air will settle down slowly but it might take several hours or a day for the whole process. People who breathe the air which composes of allergens and dust are exposed to the risk of severe respiratory illness and allergies. If the leaf blowing work is undertaken at that time of a day when there is least number of people on the street would help prevent a lot of people from being exposed to pollen and dust mixed air.
A researcher claimed that one inefficient engine can cause as much air pollution as 80 cars. The exact data and conditions in which the study has been done should have been published by the researcher to keep things more transparent. Just by general observation one can say that the frequency of usage of cars is far higher than the usage of leaf blowers. In most communities leaf blowing is done twice or thrice a week depending on the street conditions. The number of leaf blowers used would also be far lesser compared to the number of cars that might be in that area. Although this cannot be generalized to all neighborhoods’, but this would be the case in most places. As per the news article, the number of cases of death reported due to respiratory illnesses has gone up by 40%. Leaf blowers might be one of the causes but not the only cause for causing respiratory illness. So it’s not justified to state that the number of cases of respiratory illness have gone up only cause of using the gas-powered leaf blowers.
When a relative comparison is done between hours of usage, number of cars, the frequency of usage of cars and the hours of operation of leaf blowers, number of leaf blowers and the frequency of their usage a fair idea can be established. This would help us in understanding how much air pollution these leaf blowers cause by burning gas or other fossil fuels.
Just as cars and automobiles are issued a fitness certificate after conducting smog test to check the emission levels of the engine; the same has to be implemented in the case of leaf blowers as well. If the engines do not meet the emission standards then the cleaning agencies have to upgrade to models which are more efficient and emit lesser quantities of ozone depleting gases like Carbon Dioxide. Even better would be to spend a little more money and purchase electric powered leaf blowers which are much more “greener” and cause less damage to the atmosphere. Cleaning agencies have raised questions on the cost effectiveness and efficiency of the electric powered leaf blowers but I strongly fee that health of the residents and environmental friendliness should never be traded off for efficiency.
The data provided by the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASAHA) about the noise levels at which leaf blowers in Palo Santo are operated shocked me. Waking up to the disturbing loud noise of a leaf blower or a lawn mower is the last thing I would like to start my day with. Especially on a Sunday morning when everyone wants to lazy around and wake up late, these noisy leaf blowers can get very annoying. Unfortunately, I have faced this problem ever since I’ve been a resident of Palo Santo. The electric-powered leaf blowers might be the answer to this issue. Various models are available in the market today which cause almost half the noise pollution as the gas powered models and are 5 times more environmental friendly. Although the cleaning agencies say that these are harder to use than the gas-powered models due to the heavy weight, they are failing to use simple technology of having wheeled carts to avoid carrying heavy loads on the back. This would make the operator’s job much easier and he just needs to push the cart to move the leaf blower engine much like the electric vacuum cleaners used in our houses. Also, I strongly feel more efforts need to be put in finding vacuum cleaner like devices which can suck in leaves and dust particles on the street. This would help in preventing air pollution and thereby reduces the risk of respiratory illnesses.
I strongly feel that Palo Santo’s governing organizations need to be provided with incentive packages to lower the cost of the electric-powered leaf blowers to attract cleaning agencies to upgrade their leaf blower machines. More than the public, it’s these agencies which need to be educated about damages their leaf blowing activities are causing to the people living in the city as well as to the environment. Instead of investing time in formulating new laws to penalize those who violate the terms of usage of gas-powered leaf blowers, I strongly feel that city officials needs to request special grants from State and Federal Governments to implement a new strategy of giving financial incentive to the companies which upgrade their leaf blowers to new hi-tech ones by lowering the cost of devices. This way, the city official will have control on what kind of devices are being purchased and keep a check on device sound and air pollution levels. Finally I feel the problem is more about the leaf blowers than about leaf blowing process itself. Hence banning of leaf blowers is not a wise act, and I stand against banning them.
