Workers with Russell’s Landscaping in Oceanport use gas powered leaf blowers in a yard on Tower Hill Drive Monday afternoon (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
The Red Bank Environmental Commission is launching a campaign to reduce the use of gas-powered leaf blowers in town, calling them harmful to the environment, the quality of life for residents and the workers who use them.
For now, the outright or seasonal bans implemented in other towns in New Jersey and across the U.S, does not appear to be on the table.
Workers with Russell’s Landscaping make sure no leaf remains on the property across the street from the Red Bank Middle School. Below, RBED Chairman Paul Rodriguez Heyman addresses the council about leaf blowers. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
In a presentation to the Borough Council Thursday, RBEC chairman Paulo Rodriguez Heyman said the commission is hoping to spur a gradual reduction or phase out of the use of gas powered blowers by educating homeowners and businesses about the wide range of health and environmental dangers they create. That, along with improving technology like better battery-operated blowers could help reduce their use without regulations.
“The goal for tonight is to start the process of educating the community…to inform people about gas powered leaf blowers,” he said. “It’s about getting the word out, that this is not just about a public nuisance – although they are annoying – it is so much more than that.”
“We are not proposing a regulation,” he added later.
Still he said, homeowners need to know their desire to maintain an antiseptic-looking lawn comes at a price to the environment and the workers many people hire to keep it that way.
“Some people want to have the perfect lawn and what we’re realizing is the amount of environmental degradation that goes into that…it comes at a cost,“ Heyman Rodriguez said.
He cited studies showing the amount of emissions from a gas powered leaf blower for one hour is the same as a modern car driving 1,1000 miles.
“They belch out really a disproportionate amount of fumes,’’ he said. Those fumes can lead to higher rates of asthma and cancer, he noted. Often topping 100 decibels, they also cause noise pollution, blow off top soil, harm animals including pollinating insects. Slides from the RBEC presentation to the council can be seen here.
The State of California last year banned the sale of gas powered blowers. In New Jersey, Maplewood and Montclair have total bans on their use. as does the Princeton, Morristown, Leonia, and South Orange have passed partial bans, limiting their use to spring and fall.
“There’s no reason to blow grass clippings in August in 95 degree weather,’’ Lois Krauss, leader of Advocates for Transforming Landscaping in New Jersey told the council. “It’s just silly. It’s generating so much pollution, so much noise pollution and denuding the soil.”
In Red Bank, there’s another factor.
The town has a large number of residents who work in the landscaping industry. Leaf blower critics say workers’ health is threatened by having to use them on a daily basis. Heyman Rodribuez cited concerns over hearing loss, asthma and cancer for workers who use blowers day after day for years
“If the engine from a gas powered leaf blower were on the road it would be banned for not being able to pass the smog test,” Heyman Rodriguez said. “But we allow landscapers to operate them eight hours a day, day in and day out.”
“We’re trying to protect people and at the same time not compromise people’s ability to make a living,” he added.
Councilman Ben Forest said when he campaigned for office, the issue of leaf blowers “came up a lot, both pro and con.”
Forest said he and his family are frequently bothered by the loud noise from leaf blowers in the summer, but he hadn’t considered the long term health effects on workers which he called, “the most concerning thing’’ in the presentation.
“It’s something I’m just processing now,” he said.
Rodriguez-Heyman said members of the committee are hoping to meet with the owners of landscaping companies to get their input and continue the dialogue.
A key part of the education is also aimed at homeowners, convincing them that not every blade of grass needs to be blown away.
“What we’re emphasizing it take it down a notch, ‘leave the leaves’ as they say,” Heyman Rodriguez said.
That might not be an easy sell, given that generations of Americans have grown up being sold an image of the perfect green lawn by the multi-billion dollar lawn care industry.
As a crew from Russell’s Landscaping in Oceanport worked at two houses on Tower Hill Drive Monday, the manager said there was no way they could switch to electric blowers or convince customers that it’s better to leave some leaves there.
“Are you kidding me?’ he said. “No way. We’d be fired.”
And over on South Street, as a landscaping crew worked on her yard, longtime Red Bank resident Dao Tran said she didn’t have strong feelings as to whether the company she hired used leaf blowers. “I don’t know if it makes it easier or harder for them,’’ she said. But as for leaving some leaves in her perfectly manicured yard?
“Oh, no,” she said. “I need it clean.”
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling his name loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.
