Leaves in N. Ga. not yet blown.
Photo by JackImagine autumn in New England. On a quiet fall day, one sits and watches the red and gold leaves swirl down to a softly gurgling brook. Cool, clean breezes refresh the soul.
Now, shift to Atlanta. As the first leaves of autumn fall from the oaks, panic grips the residents of apartment and condo complexes. There will be leaves in the parking lot. Leaves will clutter the space between our parked cars on the street. Even before the leaves fall, three, four, five workers rev up their blowers to max speed: 200 mph. Their instructions? leave not one leaf on the grounds, the walks or the street. Get rid of them! Of course there's no need to worry about where you blow them. If there get to be too many, we'll scoop them up in a tarp. But meanwhile, we'll just blow them until they aren't visible any more, or cleverly concealed in the ground cover.
Consider the results: at 200mph, the hot winds from the blowers lift not only the leaves, but enormous quantities of dirt. The dust and dirt rise as high as the rooftops of three story buildings and coat everything as they begin a slow descent. The hot wind destroys whatever grass there is and, week by week, kills the shrubs. Landscapes that are blown weekly, especially in times of drought or hot weather are bare, whatever fertile soil there was-- gone with the wind. All one needs to do is walk around the neighborhood of a complex that is blown to see the damage. In contrast to the healthy shrubs, green lawns, and blooming ground cover of all the neighborhood properties, the blown landscapes are dead. The difference is startling.
Consider this as well: those workers who spend their days blowing dirt and dust, including the lead filled dust of the street, the anti-freeze, the organic and inorganic compounds of car drippings, animal feces, mold, and allergens are very likely to suffer respiratory illness. Though we are all aware of the city's infamous air pollution, many of us do little to prevent it. We drive SUVs and we blow our lawns dry with gasoline fumes that add significantly to the pollution. The price we are paying for anal retentive tidiness may be an insidious filth that coats our houses inside and out, and settles in our lungs and sinuses.
This activity is not confined to autumn, of course. Blowing is now a year 'round process. Weekly, workers gather armed with the latest, most powerful, loudest, and most fume spewing blowers possible. When asked what they are blowing in the dog days of summer, they reply, "debris." Of course there are also leaves- the same leaves that various companies blow around yards and into streets week after week, never bothering to pick them up. What could be more lucrative than charging a condo complex thousands per month to have a handful of low wage workers walk the property blowing it with fumes and hot air? Perhaps the scam wouldn't be so nasty if the blowers didn't pollute the already dirty air and rob us of quiet summer mornings in our yards or on our back porches.
My hope is that looking at the ordinances of over 400 progressive communities around the country that limit the use and kinds of blowers, might eventually bring us back to the good old days of quiet contemplation of the beauty of autumn leaves, and the peacefulness of summer mornings free of gasoline fumes and the roar of leaf blower engines.
About 400 cities and towns (click) have banned or controlled blowers nationwide.
About 400 cities and towns (click) have banned or controlled blowers nationwide.
Jack Miller
