Thar she blows!
No, not Moby Dick — whose soothing whale sounds are the stuff of New Age CDs. We're talking about that scourge of the suburbs, that bane of tranquility, the nightmare noise that householders dread each spring. The leaf blower.
GrrrRRRAAAAAARRRRRRaaarrrrr.
The leaf blower was invented as far back as 1947. But in some New Jersey communities, it is now public nuisance number one.
"People don't think about noise pollution as pollution, but it certainly affects the quality of life," said Assemblywoman Lisa Swain, D-Fair Lawn, whose bill A2319, known colloquially as the "leaf blower bill," was introduced in December 2021. She's hoping it will be heard in the environmental committee in September. "I'm hoping there will be a groundswell of support," she said.
Her own origin story, as a foe of the blower, began as so many others have.
"What happened, a few years ago, is that one Saturday afternoon I finally got a few minutes free time, and I wanted to sit and read a book," said Swain, a two-time mayor of Fair Lawn . "Then my neighbor's landscaper showed up. They started in blowing the leaves. It was so loud it was no longer relaxing to sit and read. That's what got me started."
Noises off: leaf blower bans across the U.S.
Swain is not alone in her feelings about the estimated 11 million gas-powered leaf blowers in the U.S.
People became fired up about this issue during and after the pandemic — when many, working from home, became aware of the weekday noises their office jobs had spared them from hearing.
Some 200 cities in the U.S. now have regulations about leaf blowers — some restricting them to certain hours, or certain seasons. California, Washington, D.C., and Miami have banned gas-powered blowers entirely. Other places are planning to.
Glen Ridge, Princeton, Maplewood, Montclair, Morristown and West Orange are among the New Jersey towns that have passed restrictions on them.
Leaf blowers are certainly loud. They have clocked in at over 100 decibels from point of origin . That's about the level of a chainsaw, a jackhammer, or the front seat at a rock concert.
Shh!: These 2 NJ cities are among the noisiest in the U.S. What they're doing to quiet down
Naturally, they're not so loud when heard from next door. But there is, say experts, a low-frequency component to the sound that persists at a distance , that makes them more penetrating than the sound of, say, a vacuum cleaner.
"When three guys are using these gas blowers for 20 minutes, it's pretty loud," said Dave Chalek, owner of Sprout Farms & Gardens in Teaneck .
What's on the NJ leaf blower bill
Swain's bill would direct the Board of Public Utilities to establish financial incentives — rebates — for the purchase of low-noise electric or battery-powered leaf blowers for residents and landscaping businesses.
Such non-gas alternatives do exist. And they are quiet. "They're so silent you wouldn't be able to hear it inside the house," Chalek said.
Problem is, they're also expensive. And imperfect. Most, so far, don't have batteries that can hold a charge long enough to do a complete lawn.
Both problems will, likely, be solved in the near future. Among the possible solutions: solar-paneled contractor trucks that can act as generating stations. "That's not quite feasible technology yet, but that's what they're working toward," Chalek said.
Meanwhile, landscaping companies that are the prime noise polluters need to be incentivized to switch.
"You have to look at this from the contractor point of view," Chalek said. "I think we need to cut down on the pollution of the lawn industry as a whole, but people have to remember that the costs of doing that are high. A gas leaf blower you can buy for $500. The electric ones are north of $1,200."
Turning down the volume
Landscapers, however, do have something to gain by tamping down the noise, Swain argues.
"It affects the people who live in neighborhoods, but also the employees of landscaping companies," she said. "Not only does it affect their hearing, but they're affected by the dust and particulates in the air that get blown up."
Gas leaf blowers are generally worrying, from an environmental point of view, Chalek said. "Aside from the noise pollution, they're environmentally polluting," he said. "They run pretty heavy on gas, and they don't have great filtration. It's not like there's a catalytic converter on it. It's a very simple system, a very simple motor, a gas-oil blend."
Of course, the other alternative is a tried and true device that dates back to 1100 B.C. China. You may have heard of it. It's called a rake.
This, too, has its drawbacks, to be sure. "It costs too much money to have a guy on a rake," Chalek said. "If you have the contractors charging $65 to $80 an hour per man, which is the standard industry fee, it would cost you hundreds of dollars just to rake a small yard."
But there's nothing to stop you from doing it yourself. Which will be good for your neighbors, good for you — and good for your wallet.
"It's great exercise," Chalek said. "It's great for the environment. And a rake is cheaper than a battery or gas blower."
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: North Jersey towns have put restrictions on gas leaf blowers. Will the state move next?
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