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The origin of the leaf blower:
The leaf blower has been around for more than 35 years. The original blower was designed to spread fertilizers and pesticides over grain fields and fruit trees. A container was mounted above a centrifugal fan as the source for the chemicals that would be disbursed evenly over the area. Versions of this product are still in use today. Echo’s name for this device was and is the
Leaf blower use:
Today, there are many uses for the leaf blower, including the cleaning of driveways and sidewalks after cutting the grass and the removal of debris from parking lots, sports arenas, city parks and construction sites. It quickly became an important cleanup tool, saving time over alternative methods. It turns out that this product does a far better job than a rake or broom and at far less cost due to the speed in which it can clean up an area. The Department of Public Services for the City of Coronado, CA conducted a test comparing brooms to leaf blowers. To clean the perimeter sidewalk of a downtown park with a broom took 80 minutes where it took only 6 minutes to clean with a blower. The leaf blower has become indispensable. Clearly, it is not just a leaf blower. It is an all- purpose outdoor clean up tool.
Note: A leaf blower is NOT intended for use on gravel driveways, dry dirt or other potentially dusty surfaces.
How serious is the leaf blower problem?
In recent years, there have been several cities around the United States that have taken steps to regulate blowers. In 1998, the city of Los Angeles passed an ordinance that prohibits the use of leaf blowers within 500 feet of a personal residence. There have been other attempts at banning in both large and small cities, but so far, most have failed. They either didn’t get passed by the city council or after passing, could not be enforced. Still banning can be a serious problem depending on the penalty associated with violating the ban and the persistence of the local police force.
Powerful entities have looked into banning blowers. In 2000, the California State Legislature instructed the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to conduct a study on the environmental impact of leaf blowers based on information and test results available at the time. The report from this study made a clear statement that there are many individuals, organizations and municipalities deeply bothered by the leaf blower.
