This will probably open a "can of worms" ?
 

This might get as many comments as gas vrs. electric golf carts....LOL ! Heard on radio newscast yesterday that the list of communities and entire states banning gas leaf/grass/debris blowers is growing rapidly. The stated reasons for banning gas is the decibel level, so some states and some communities are (for the time being) going to allow electric blowers. News also reported a growing number of states and individual communities have banned ALL blowers, stating that simply dissipating dirty, dust, and debris into the air serves no purpose, and the practice of one neighbor or one lawn service simply blowing the debris onto the property of another neighbor not only serves no purpose, but as been the foundation of many serious incidents. Reminds me of one morning I was standing on my driveway, holding my cup of coffee looking for the paper which should have been delivered by that time. The neighbor's lawn service was just finishing by using a gas blower to clear all the debris. The woman using it turned it directly to me as I stood on my drive, absolutely covered me in dirt and clippings and filling my coffee cup with dirt. I poured out my coffee and waited for her to finish. As she was loading the blower onto the trailer, I walked up to her and said very calmly: " I don't mean to be rude, but would you tell me why you would blow all of your trash onto me, and my drive and yard, instead of the people whose yard you are working in ? I said this in a very conversational, NOT confrontational, tone. She looked at me and YELLED: MY BOSS OWNS THIS COMPANY AND HE SAID WE CAN'T BLOW NUTTIN' ON OUR CUSTOMER'S PROPERTY BECAUSE THEY ARE PAYING US !". At that point I realized she, and possibly the other male, were mentally challenged, so I nodded very slightly and went in to get a clean cup of coffee. As an aside, these were the very same two individuals I had given fresh, cold, homemade lemonade to in large disposable cups just weeks ago because they looked so hot ! Just wondering, might be very pleasant if the villages did away with blowers all together like some of these places have ! ?

Up north we used a mulching mower. But we also didn't get so much rain that we had to worry about fungus or mold, and our grass was actual grass that benefited from the mulch. Down here we use a bag attachment to our lawnmower, so there really aren't any clippings that have to be blown anywhere at all except the small bit from edging the driveway and flower bed. We just have to pause the mowing for a few minutes to empty the bag maybe - twice each time we mow the lawn. It gets emptied into the lawn bag for the next trash day, along with weeds and shrub trimming debris.

There's nothing on a driveway that a push broom can't sweep off, no idea why anyone would need a blower at all around here.

I always cut the grass in a fashion that the grass was ejected back to MY lawn and not the street or the neighbor's lawn, no need for a blower, for the grass. I will admit that I made an attachment that allowed me to blow the leaves out of the gutters, but the was an electric blower and the debris went into my garden.

I guess I can see the point regarding places like the Villages and other tightly packed urban areas, with postage stamp lots packed in tightly, with no place to blow leaves, lawn clippings, debris, etc….contemplating the pro and cons. On the other hand, I don’t know what I’d do without my Stihl Magnum BR 800 2 cycle backpack leaf blower at our northern home. When one owns several acres of land in a rural area, surrounded by woods, with no close neighbors, try telling them they can’t use their $750 blower when their property is covered with leaves in early November. Every spring, when I drive back up north after a wonderful winter in the Villages, I bring about 10 gallons of ethanol free gas with me so I can fire up the blower and clear our property, my blind brothers property, the family lake house, and my 90 year old father in laws. There is no way I could do all that without my wonderful Stihl, which blows out hurricane force winds from a backpack. I hate urbanites trying to dictate to folks living in rural areas how they should live their lives.

We had 3/4 acre of wooded land, so yeah I get the leaf issue. Hubby used a push-blower. I preferred an old fashioned rake. It was just so so so satisfying, and the only noise was the sound of crunching leaves. It was also incredibly rewarding to bring all those leaves into 6-foot piles at the curb. Then fall back into the piles and stare up at the blue sky through the canopy of crimson and mustard-yellow leaves waving down at me on the branches of the maple trees. It's what I miss most about my home in New England - the whole autumn experience.

Every winter I use a blower to clean out the gutters on our Villages home (we live next to a wildlife preserve so lots of stuff gets in the gutters). Everything blown out either winds up in our garden or stuck to the side of the house. I always schedule to have the house get its annual power washing right after I blow out the gutters. Our power washing guy definitely earns his money.

I agree but, I have NEVER in all these years ever seen ONE yard service that does NOT blow all the debris into neighboring yards before they leave ! ?

On purpose? The people who service houses in my neighborhood don't do that. They blow the debris onto the yard of the people they're servicing. They did ours when we first moved in, just because we sold our tractor-mower before moving down and it took a couple of months for us to decide on a new mower.

Same people who do our next door neighbors and the people across the street. They keep the debris to the properties they work on.

Are we running out of things to complain about?

I would be insane if someone blew their clippings on to my property, especially my driveway.

Totally agree with that ! I can't remember the states that are TOTALLY banning ALL blowers, gas and electric, but it makes no sense for rural dwellers to have noise and dirt restricts on their own property... ?? But, "government" never seems to take into consideration the circumstances, locations, or other factors... it's all or nothing usually ??

It’s a beautiful time of the year and has just started up here. Fall things I noticed just today. The days are rapidly getting shorter, never got out of the 60’s today and will be in 40’s tonight, only a couple of our many resident summer hummingbirds have not yet migrated south for the season, the leaves are starting to turn color, people are out at the orchards picking fresh Macintosh apples, mums and pumpkins are for sale everywhere, the annual county fairs are opening up, the Patriots played their season opener, archery hunters are scouting the woods for prime locations for their tree stands, the chain saws and wood splitters are very active preparing for the wood burning heating season, and the ganja buds are getting heavy. But my absolute favorite thing about fall is that it means we are getting closer to another long winter in the Villages.

Apparently many do "go berserk" ! But certainly on my block it's a daily thing, every day there is a lawn service at one of the homes, and every single one just blows all the debris on the NEXT door lawn and drive... rarely (once in awhile I see them do it) into the street. On occasion an employee WILL follow it all down to a "sewer drain" on the corner, which I assume only goes into the retention ponds and causes even greater problems ?

That seems a MUCH more rational and respectful way than telling employees that they are not allowed to leave any debris ON the property the people who are paying for their service !

No complaints here, in fact, I was quite surprised to hear that some states have banned all blowers, both gas and electric. However, was perfectly calm but really not expecting a person less than 8 feet from me not to have the sense to NOT blow debris all over another human being ! ? But... didn't actually complain, just dumped my coffee, went in and washed off, and got a fresh cup ! I have a firm rule, don't argue with idiots...LOL !