Gas-powered leaf blowers are banned in Highland Park from May 15 to October 1. According to the Sierra Club, “… under normal usage conditions, a leaf blower two-stroke engine emits nearly 300 times the hydrocarbons of a pickup truck, 93 times the hydrocarbons of a sedan, and many times as much carbon monoxide and nitrous oxides as well. If you drove the pickup truck for 3,900 miles, the amount of hydrocarbons emitted would be equivalent to using the two-stroke leaf blower for only about half an hour of yard work.”
More information about the hazards of leaf blowers is here. The American Green Zone Alliance is working to educate people about the hazards of gas-powered lawn equipment, and to encourage landscape contractors to switch to cleaner technologies. In August of 2020 we started a survey project to compile a list of landscapers using electric equipment and sustainable lawn care. If you’d like to be involved on the project, send us an email. If you see landscapers using gas-powered blowers, you can report the company by calling the non emergency number of the Highland Park Police with the location and the name of the landscape company.