To the Editor:
As the new season approaches, it is a good time to bring up a sensitive, yet important, issue.
Leaf blowers are an indispensable yet troublesome tool used by many Islanders who earn their livelihood as landscapers, as well as by many homeowners. For business owners, leaf blowers obviously save labor and time, and are critical to turning hard work into profit. However, as with many tools and inventions that came before them, leaf blowers as originally designed need improvements to make them not only economically beneficial, but also less of a detriment to the environment, and to the people using them. Fortunately, such further technological development is already on the market in the form of battery models, and to a lesser extent, corded electric models, which can ably fill the role of gasoline-powered models, with far less of a negative impact on the environment and our quality of life.
There is ample research on the harmful effects of gasoline leaf blowers. Two-stroke models, by far the most frequently used, emit up to a third of their fuel, unused, as a benzene-laden aerosol directly into the atmosphere. This level of pollution is unacceptable, and unnecessary. Today’s automobiles, for example, are almost 200 percent more efficient than those of the 1950s, with 99 percent lower levels of emissions. A second problem is noise pollution. One acoustic study, produced by the citizens’ group Quiet Communities, found that gas-powered blowers, because of the unique sound energy in the low-frequency range of the noise they produce, can affect many more households, up to 15 more in a densely settled neighborhood, than battery-powered blowers.
For these reasons, cities and towns around the nation are banning or restricting the use of gas leaf blowers. Taking into account the economics involved for those who have invested in gas blowers, rather than seeing the towns of Martha’s Vineyard eventually follow this trend, I would instead encourage residents to voluntarily work to transition to the less air- and noise-polluting alternative of battery blowers. The precious atmosphere, the user exposed to harmful fumes and noise levels, and the community as a whole would all enjoy the benefits.
Jeff Agnoli
Edgartown
too lenient of an approach Jeff, I would support a ban on all 2 stroke power equipment with the exception of chain saws as that is the one that technology has not caught up yet. also ban all operation of 2 stroke mopeds within Edgartown town limits wishful thinking!!