The Fairview Avenue Green Accord of 2024
Vincent Giordano
September 2024
It really had just gotten to be too much. Like so many in Fairfield County, our neighbor uses a small commercial landscaping contractor to care for their yard and plantings. We don’t mind the lawn mowing, the use of string trimmers, or hedge clippers; but using multiple gas-powered leaf blowers to blow summer’s grass clippings was too much. Such a silly, noisy and wasteful thing to do. Especially when the lawn benefits from leaving the clippings. Sure wet clumps need to be raked or blown. But other than that – mulch mow and move on. The clippings will provide moisture and nutrients to the lawn. It’s not supposed to be a spa treatment, people.
But it’s so hard for landscapers to break this unhealthy practice — even when gas powered leaf blowing is noisy, polluting, and especially harmful to the hourly employees doing the work. In our town of Ridgefield, it is perfectly legal to use as many gas-powered leaf blowers as you like, every day of the week, every day of the year, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. So, if one is going to blow grass clippings in the summer months, maybe at least we can give the landscape employees a better tool.
Hence the Fairview Ave. green accord of 2024. In a moment of desperation (read inspiration) we offered to buy a commercial grade battery leaf blower, if the landscape owner would agree to use it. A few neighbors chipped in and we bought a $700 dollar EGO commercial backpack blower. Now each week, we keep it charged and ready to go and the landscaper has kept his word and has used it each time. Much less noise, less pollution, better for the employees, and better for us. Win – Win – Win. It’s not the Kyoto protocol, but perhaps more landscapers would be willing to transition to battery operated leaf blowers if their customers would be willing to chip in on the investment costs? Although the battery technology pays for itself over time (e.g., reduced maintenance and fuel costs); the cost differential at the point of purchase blocks change.
On the Federal level the House (HB 6013) and the US Senate (SB 4068) are considering a tax credit to assist small businesses in transitioning to zero-emission landscaping equipment. The bills provide a 40% credit on the purchase of zero-emission equipment, such as mowers, leaf blowers, hedgers, and accessories up to $25,000 every year and up to $100,000 over the course of 10 consecutive years. The tax credit applies to any equipment purchased on or after January 1, 2023. I reached out to Dr. Jamie Banks, Founder and President of Quiet Communities. Her view is that this Federal legislation represents an important step, but because it is a tax credit, it may not benefit small companies that pay little, if any, taxes. Most of this industry consists of small companies. She believes that the industry would prefer direct subsidies.
Unfortunately, as of this writing, none of our Connecticut representatives nor Senators are co-sponsors. Time to make some calls, people.
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Vincent Giordano is a Sierra Club member and resident of Ridgefield, CT.