I did not receive their services, but I'm a neighbor to someone who did receive their services - and is receiving them right now and for the past hour and a quarter and counting. The noise from the 2 leaf blowers is unbearable. It woke me up and not only can I not sleep, but I can't work, eat, or even think very well. If I'm not mistaken, I believe I can even feel the vibrations in my feet right now. Society has taken a wrong turn in following the herd fad of leaf blowers.
I rake my lawn just as fast as these stupid leaf blowers.
1. RAKES ARE QUIET QUIET QUIET. THEY ARE NOT INCONSIDERATE. THEY DO NOT BOTHER THE NEUROBIOLOGY AND MENTAL HEALTH OF HUMANS AND ANIMALS.
2. RAKES ARE NOT SMELLY.
3. RAKES DO NOT USE FOSSIL FUELS.
4. RAKES GIVE MUCH BETTER EXERCISE OUTSIDE AND TIME IN NATURE, LISTENING TO BEAUTIFUL BIRD SONG, FOR A SOCIETY THAT THINKS NARROW-MINDEDLY OF EXERCISE IN TERMS OF USING FOSSIL-FUEL RUN TREADMILLS AND EXERCISE BIKES IN A GYM.
5. RAKES ARE FAST.
6. RAKES GIVE THE EARTH - THE SOIL - SOME ATTENTION AS WELL.
A family member once saw in the neighborhood a company come with a bunch of guys with rakes. They raked a lawn super fast as a team, all in rows.
Please James Lawn Services. Be a leader and stop following the herd. Buy your employees rakes. It will be better for their health too.
...3 1/2 hours later...Well, they're still going. Who knows when they'll be done. They were even blowing leaves onto my lawn to get them off the neighbor's lawn. Next time, I'll tell my neighbor I"ll rake their pine cones for free, just so that I don't have to listen to these damn leaf blowers. It's bad enough inside the house - I can't work, think, sleep etc. But when I stepped outside, it sounded like I was next to an airfield.
PLEASE TRY USING RAKES. YOU'LL BE SURPRISED HOW PLEASANT AND EASY THEY ARE. Oh, God; they'd stopped momentarily and i was hoping they were done - but NO! They're back at it. I called the town supervisor's office twice about this, but they seem in the spell of groupthink about leaf blowers too. I had to explain the idea of the rake. I guess we need to use fossil-fuel guzzling leaf blowers so we can have an excuse to frack and to invade more nations for oil!
....4 hours later. They left after more than 3 1/2 hours. By the way, the yard they were blowing was littered with pine cones - just like mine was (before I raked it quite quickly) - several pine cones per square foot - almost equal grass and pine cones showing. It was a BIG year for pine cones. I can hardly imagine how leaf blowers, which are no better than rakes even with leaves, could keep up with a rake when blowing pine cones.
If the town or state banned leaf blowers, this would encourage companies to hire men and women to rake yards instead. It would be much quieter, much more considerate of humans and animals, and much more enjoyable and healthful. It would also be better for the environment, not only by eliminating the highly uncomfortable noise, but also by not using fossil fuels. I realize the nation seems to be trying to encourage fossil fuel use, what with the large-sized vehicles promoted these days, the leaf blowers, and even exercise bikes are now plugged in, but I encourage a reduction in the use of fossil fuels and the return to MUSCLE POWER.
I talked with the 2 men just before they left and talked about rakes, and they were very courteous and sorry about the noise, but I was shocked they didn't even wear ear plugs. Please try out rakes, give them a try, and you'll see how good they are. TRY THEM!
Nonoise.org contains devastating information about the health effects of leaf blowers. Numerous communities across the nation are banning them. Other articles point to several alternatives, including rakes and brooms, that can be used by professional lawn services and individuals. Nonoise.org includes experiments with a grandmother who proved that rakes and brooms are just as fast, if not better, than leaf blowers. It will be no cost to lawn services to switch to rakes and brooms and will be safer for employees and all surrounding humans and animals. Therefore, switching to rakes and brooms should be a "no-brainer" for lawn service professionals as well as driveway sealers. From nonoise.org:
Sacramento's city code, for ex, states that the normally acceptable ambient noise level in residential areas is no more than 60 dB. The decibel scale is logarithmic--each increase of 10, say 60 to 70, represents a noise 10 times louder. The average blower measures 70-75 dB at 50 ft, thus louder at any closer distance. The World Health Organization recommends general daytime outdoor noise levels of 55 dBA* or less, but 45 dBA to meet sleep criteria (3). Thus, even a 65-decibel leaf blower would be 100 times too loud** to allow healthful sleep (which often takes place during daytime hours for night workers and others). Noise can impair sleep even when the sleeper is not awakened. read more
