Dear City Council of Menlo Park,
I am hoping that the gas-powered leaf blower ban can make it on your agenda as soon as possible. Here is the thing. A few years ago, gardeners and landscape companies could make the argument against a ban on the basis of cost. Now, with advances in battery technology and the availability of cheaper electric leaf blowers (which are just as powerful), this argument no longer holds true. Now, in just after one year, the ROI on electric-powered blowers exceeds gas blowers and that ROI increases significantly over time. (See chart below.)
Second, over 30 cities across California have already successfully implemented these bans.
Sadly, the health effects on the users of the 2-stroke engine gas-blowers are considered worse than a truck's because of the amount of fine particulate matter that lodges in users' and passerbys' lungs. The gardeners that are continuing to use these are paying a significant health price for their work.
We have all spent countless hours throughout this pandemic enduring the noises from the gas-powered blowers. If you haven't already, I would encourage you to hear the difference between gas and battery-powered blowers. They are significant in two ways. First, the overall noise with gas-powered blowers are much louder. Second, the up and down continual changing in pitch is what drives many homeowners crazy.
I'd like to also mention the benefits of a ban in terms of Covid. "Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that a small increase in long-term exposure to PM2.5 (which gas blowers spew out) leads to a large increase in the COVID-19 death rate. (Xiao et al.)" As I mentioned earlier, since so many of us are housebound, there is also the quality of life arguments for a ban on these noisy and polluting machines.
I really hope Menlo Park can step up and make a difference for the health, safety, and sanity of its residents and the employees who work in our town.
Many thanks for listening,
Katrina Ryan
[image.png]Source: Coalition for a Healthy and Safe Environment
