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Avoid
a Dust-Up: Use a Rake!
Humorist Dave Barry identified leaf blowers as the ideal “guy tool” because “they have engines, they’re loud, and they enable you to blast debris, ray-gun-style, from one place to another without having to actually pick it up.” Ray-gun fantasies aside, leaf blowers are hard to defend. The noise of one leaf blower can shatter a neighborhood’s peace and quiet. Neighborhood air quality is also impaired. A gas-powered blower generates outsized toxic exhaust fumes and emissions; hour-for-hour, its pollution can equal the smog of 17 cars. Moreover, the high-velocity air jets from both gas- and electric-powered blowers throw small size particulate matter into the air, rich with pesticides, chemicals, fertilizers, spores, molds, dust and fecal matter. It can take hours for the particulate matter to settle, and while no one’s lungs are benefited, young children, people with asthma or other respiratory problems, and the elderly are particularly at risk from this pollution. Fortunately
for our ears, lungs,
and tranquility,
it
is unlawful to use
leaf blowers, whether
gas or electric,
in Del Mar (Municipal
Code
section 9.20.090).
To help ensure compliance,
you can hand the
violator
a “No
leaf blowing in the City
of Del Mar” card,
available from City Hall,
or call the City at 858-755-9313
for help with persistent
violations. If you use
gardening or landscape
services, make sure they
know to reach for a rake
instead of a leaf blower.
It’s
the Del Mar way! |
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