Responses and Talking Points

Draft Facebook Community Group Post
Request to Neighbors to Reduce Leafblower Pollution

As of January 2025 Annapolis has joined the 200 municipalities across the country that have banned gas leaf blowers. Two-stroke engines have been phased out in all industries except for yard work, and people are beginning to realize that these tools do more harm than good.

Why are gas leaf blowers being banned across the country?

1. Extreme pollution: gas leaf blowers emit more pollution in one hour than a Ford F150 driving from Texas to Alaska (2011 Edmunds study). Two stroke engines use an outdated technology that only burns about 60% of its fuel and spits out the remainder as fine particulates including formaldehyde, benzene, hydrocarbons, and other carcinogens.
2. Extreme noise: They operate at 100+ decibels proven to cause hearing loss, hypertension, high blood pressure, and other health risks. The low frequency noise penetrates walls and windows up to half a mile away.
3. Extreme winds: 200 MPH winds blast clouds of mold, pollen, silica dust from sidewalks, allergens, and even dried feces (including bird poop which is not great during this avian flu episode) which can remain airborne for hours. Their category 5 hurricane wind speeds deplete soil health, soil structure and ability to retain moisture and control erosion.

What positive things can we do?

1. Ask your landscaper to leave SOME of the leaves as free mulch, free fertilizer, and habitat for beneficial insects.
2. Create a contained brush pile to retain the organic matter in your back yard so all the nutrients don’t go to waste in a landfill—it will also become habitat for beneficial species that contribute to a healthy ecosystem of nutrient cycling.
3. Give your landscaper more business: ask them to shrink your lawn and install low maintenance garden beds with a no-mow ground cover to absorb the leaves and cycle their nutrients into healthy soil.
4. Ask your landscaper to mulch your trees and shrubs with fallen leaves. They are free mulch and nitrogen!
5. Consider hiring a local, sustainable company like Garden Girls at https://gardengirlsllc.com

As a community, we can start making choices that show an appreciation for the “critical area” surrounding us and the beautiful waterways that gives us all so much joy and pride as Annapolitans. Please consider that this ban is not a mandate to “do good”—we are simply being asked to stop doing harm.

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