A Place To Start

With North Haven Village poised to adopt the South Fork’s most decisive leaf blower ban, banning the use of all gasoline-powered leaf blowers by landscapers and homeowners alike, it’s time for other municipalities to begin thinking regionally, take a firm step forward to combat both noise and air pollution, and do likewise.

As it stands, there is a mishmash of leaf blower regulations in local towns and villages — no two municipalities share the same rules. Permitted hours of operation vary, as do tolerated noise levels. The result is that landscapers must struggle to be in compliance, carrying different equipment for projects at homes in different political subdivisions.

That’s not fair to landscaping companies, nor is it fair to homeowners and the neighbors who might do the complaining. What’s needed, regionally, is a clear and concise set of guidelines that are reasonable and consistent. It’s incredibly overdue, in fact.

North Haven’s planned all-out ban on gas-powered leaf blowers seems extreme, but is it? Noise is the most talked-about concern with the machines, but emissions are a bigger problem. Gas-powered leaf blowers are heavy polluters: Operating a two-cycle gas-powered commercial leaf blower for just 30 minutes creates more harmful emissions than driving a late-model Ford F-150 pickup truck from Texas to Alaska. And that doesn’t even consider the pollen, dust and animal excrement kicked into the air when using the blowers.

Electric leaf blowers are not a huge improvement: Their whine is only marginally less intrusive, and there’s still the cloud of debris. But battery-operated blowers are a definite improvement, and while landscapers see the future and are steadily embracing the new technology, local municipalities could demand faster action with a ban. Moreover, villages could nudge the effort forward by offering charging stations for use by landscaping companies, or finding other creative ways to make electric more appealing, and making sure landscapers don’t trade gas-powered blowers for gas-powered generators on their trucks.

At the same time, the questions surrounding leaf blowers are not unique to any single village or town, so it’s time for a summit to come up with some general policies and common sense restrictions. For instance, it’s fair to ask: Why is anyone using a “leaf” blower in summer, anyway, when the leaves are largely on the trees? They’re being used for grass — and the healthiest thing for any lawn is to use a mulching blade, reducing the need for fertilizer and eliminating bagged clippings that must be discarded. Sidewalks and driveways? Brooms are just as efficient, quieter, and create virtually no emissions or clouds of dust.

Perhaps the East End Supervisors and Mayors Association could take up the matter, come up with some fact-based proposals and end the patchwork quilt of rules that currently exist. Instead, the region could stroll united into a greener future together — starting with a ban patterned on North Haven’s proposal.