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Toxic Effects of Gas Powered Lawn & Garden Care

12/30/2014

21 Comments

 
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Chrysalis Garden Care was conceived with a commitment to developing gardening practices that will assist our human community in transitioning towards a less environmentally degrading way of living, without sacrificing the joy of having beautiful space around us.  One of the first choices I made was to care for gardens without the use of gas-powered equipment.  

The idealist in me believes that we can create beauty in our gardens with resources available to us here and now, not what we extract brutally from the earth in far away places.  I’d also like to design and maintain gardens that work for real people using their own precious energy to cultivate a small patch of the world, and I don’t know many people who deeply desire to mow their lawns weekly or fork over their income to delegate the task.  

That said, there is a lot of beauty in smooth, clean pathways and patios.  Badminton and soccer games suffer without flat, soft spaces to play.  When the first major rainfalls occur, many curbsides are clogged with leaves and become mucky traps for intrepid pedestrians rather than draining smoothly.  So of course there is a need for cleanliness in the landscape, and I’d like to use efficient techniques to make it happen!  Because of the time efficiency of power equipment such as leaf blowers, I wanted to make a careful, data-based decision.  

First, I looked into the emissions from 2-stroke engines.  Since they have only one combustion cycle, nearly 30% of fuel goes unburned and is released as exhaust.  By many measures, gas-powered leaf blowers and lawnmowers emit far more greenhouse gases than trucks using conventional gasoline.  In 2011, Edmunds, a third-party vehicle researching company, tested the emissions of a Ford F-150, Fiat 500, Ryobi 4-stroke leaf blower, and an Echo 2-stroke leaf blower.  Here are their findings:


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Emissions Test Results from http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/features/emissions-test-car-vs-truck-vs-leaf-blower.html
As you can see, leaf blowers were remarkably high polluters in all three categories of greenhouse gases.  They emit ~23 times more carbon monoxide and ~300 times more non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) than a standard-size truck.  Lawnmowers had less striking but similar results.  These are toxic molecules that linger in our atmosphere, contribute to global warming, and destroy our ozone.  

Leaf blowers also kick up particulate matter which can contain other toxic materials such as pet waste, fertilizer, and oil from road surfaces.  This has been shown to aggravate asthma and respiratory illnesses.

Finally, they’re noisy!  I want to make sure that your home and neighborhood are pleasant places for napping babies and adults, asthmatics, elderly people, and all other residents with lungs, and for future generations.  Using gas-powered equipment diminishes my ability to accomplish this goal, so I have chosen not to do it. 

Stay tuned as I engage in more carbon reduction strategies in 2015.  Next up: Transportation & materials sourcing.

If You're Curious....

Student Madeleine Buchman is working to pass a resolution in the Seattle City Council to limit or ban leaf blower use.  Help her out!  https://banblowersseattle.wordpress.com/what-im-up-to/


21 Comments
Karen link
12/26/2016 02:48:57 pm

Great share. Thank you so much

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12/30/2017 08:21:23 am

Natural resources are much better than artificial ones. If you really want to make your garden a lot more beautiful, I suggest you focus on using natural resources. This will help your garden to be fresh and to not have any foul smell. Of course, it is quite costly because natural resources are much more effective, but it is worth the price. It will also help your plants to have a longer life which is basically what gardens are made for.

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Alexis link
6/5/2017 06:47:04 pm

It's great.
Thank you so much!

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9/25/2017 08:44:26 am

Gas powered lawn mowers are best

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10/23/2017 07:29:42 am

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2/7/2019 03:42:39 am

Having decay fruit and vegetables can be a big help to a plant. Aside from using chemicals and harmful things to plant, I prefer going into natural way. It consumes a bit effort, but I guess it would effect a good cost. The gas powered lawn has bad effects and at the same time, it has an effect to the people who gardens in there. The blog is very helpful and gives us knowledge regarding our environment. Thank you for sharing your insight!

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Thomas Nguyen link
1/8/2018 02:21:34 am

"They emit ~23 times more carbon monoxide and ~300 times more non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) than a standard-size truck. Lawnmowers had less striking but similar results. These are toxic molecules that linger in our atmosphere, contribute to global warming, and destroy our ozone" - Thanks for your test.

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10/18/2018 12:29:06 am

Can I just say what a relief to find someone who actually knows what they are talking about on the internet. You definitely know how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More people need to read this and understand this side of the story. I cant believe you are not more popular because you definitely have the gift.

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11/28/2018 11:08:48 am

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2/25/2019 05:35:09 am

I like this blog thing. For me, I advise to use Natural resources because they are much better than artificial ones. If you really want to make your garden a lot more beautiful, you should focus on using natural resources. This will help your garden to be fresh. Of course, it is quite costly because natural resources are much more effective, but I'm sure it will be worth it. Climate change is happening so we need to use more natural resources than the artificial.

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3/12/2019 09:36:15 pm

The issue of the unnatural way of conducting and producing a system with a complex process which covers a wide range of affected matters is not new in todays developing Era. Although, the development that most of us see is intertwined with the deterioration and destruction of most of our natural resources, it is sad to see that many people choose to ignore the negative part of this which will then result to a greater problem in the long run.

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Michael Foley link
8/15/2019 11:26:14 pm

Thank you for the enlightening post. I think it's time for me to switch to a battery leaf blower.

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4/24/2020 01:39:58 am

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