Autumn is a beautiful season: waning days of warmth, cool nights, and dramatic color. All is blissful until the leaves fall from the trees covering the ground with a thick mass of debris. So begins the raking…or blowing.
The Invention
Although not confirmed, it widely is believed that the leaf blower was invented by Dom Quinto in the late 1950s. It originally was introduced in the United States as an agricultural sprayer, but soon manufacturers saw an opportunity to use the blower as a lawn and garden maintenance tool.
Environmental Impact
Emissions from gasoline-powered leaf blowers, noise, carbon monoxide as well as airborne particulates are common complaints of the leaf blower. To minimize some of these side-effects, the leaf blower is governed by the U.S. E.P.A. emission standards for small engines, and to counteract the noise, several American cities have ordinances restricting lawn blower usage or mandating decibel levels. In fact, Caremel-by-the-Sea and Beverly Hills banned the implement in the 1970s citing it a noise nuisance.
So don’t throw out the rake just yet.
References
Determination Particulate Emission Rates from Leaf Blowers. Report written by Dennis Fitz, David Pankratz, Sally Pederson, and James Bristow, College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology, University of California, Riverside, CA and Gary Arcemont, San Joaquin Unified Air Pollution Control District, Fresno, CA.
Glasner, Joanna. “The Silence of the Leaf Blowers.” September 23, 2005.
Lawn and Garden (Small Gasoline) Equipment, United States Environmental Protection Agency web page
“Leaf-blower regulations nationwide,” ConsumerReports.org, September 2010
Leaf Blower Report by the California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board