Leaf blowers, a scourge to be banned?

Leaf blowers abound in autumn. However, they present several harmful effects for human health, but also for nature.

« Already more than one dry leaf, Dots the yellowed lawns; Evening and morning, the breeze is fresh, Alas! the good days are over! », wrote Théophile Gautier in his “Autumn Song”. We could add at the end of this extract “ Vrrrroooouuummm “. If you didn’t recognize it, it’s the ” soft sound » of a leaf blowerout at the start of fall. A device whose use by municipalities or individuals is debated.

The leaf blower is harmful to humans and nature

You can’t miss them. For several years, leaf blowers have been the best friends of municipal agents, including the collecting leaves in parks or gardens, a sometimes tedious task, is made easier by their use. More and more individuals are also equipping themselves with this device, available at an affordable price of 40 euros, even if the most expensive can go up to 500 euros. However, its use turns out to be harmful for nature, but also for humans.

A noise equivalent to that of a chainsaw

Let’s start with the main annoyance, which has escaped no one’s notice: its noise. What could be more unpleasant than hearing this infernal “ Vrrroouuummm » when we take a leisurely stroll? Logical when we know that some leaf blowers are just plain harmful to hearing : the threshold of 85 decibels, the limit for health, is sometimes exceeded by these devices, which can reach up to 105 decibels according to a report from the Canton of Geneva. Or the sound of a chainsaw. Not the most melodious we know…

The risk of burns and back pain, because the device sometimes weighs several kilos, are also indicated in the instructions for use. Nothing very reassuring.

A mixture of fuel and oil

To use the device, you must also wear protective glasses and long sleeves, to avoid receiving flying debris. And above all a mask, because leaf blowers spread dust with a certain power, which accelerates their diffusion and can have direct consequences on health: cough, risks for asthmatics and danger for the eyes. Same thing for the pollensto which some people are allergic.

Another important point to emphasize: these machines are generally polluting. Two- or four-motor thermal blowers, among the most “efficient” on the market, operate on a mixture of fuel and oil and return exhaust gases into the air.

Why get rid of dead leaves?

In 2011, a study carried out in the United States and relayed in the Washington Post demonstrated that a leaf blower had emitted 299 times more hydrocarbons than a van in half an hour of usebut also more carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides than a pick-up or a sedan. This is anything but trivial since these are components responsible for acid rain and contributing to global warming.

An observation that does not apply to electric leaf blowersoperating on mains or battery, but rather used on small surfaces. We should therefore rather favor this type of device, which also turns out to be less noisy, even if, more generally, their use is not really recommended for the balance of fauna and flora.

Sometimes regulated use

Indeed, remove dead leavesit is depriving the soil of organic matter provided naturally by it. It also deprives certain invertebrates of food, when the blowers do not simply kill them. Not to mention the nuisances mentioned above, which also apply to animals. So many negative points which pushed some to act.

The rake is much better! © Margaret M Stewart

As early as the 1970s, cities in California had banned the use of leaf blowers. Their use is generally regulated in some citieslike in Geneva(1) : it is prohibited between February and October and at certain times, as is the case for lawn mowers (not after 8 p.m., Sunday afternoon, etc.).

The rake and the broom, the alternatives

Several calls to ban their use have been made. On Facebook, the page Stop the leaf blowers brings together around a hundred people. Because alternatives exist.

If you really want to get rid of leaves littering your floor, the rake and the broom are equally effective tools and were used long before leaf blowers. Or you can just use these leaves for your garden : they will make an excellent natural fertilizer or a good protection for your young shoots, just to help them spend the winter warm.

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