Mayoral candidate Gil Penalosa looks to ban gas-powered leaf blowers if elected

Some Torontonians might think of leaf blowers as simply loud and annoying. But to many, the gas-powered machines are causing more of a problem than simply the noise they make.

Mayoral candidate Gil Penalosa said on Wednesday he would impose an outright ban on the devices if elected mayor next Monday.

He said the leaf blowers cause both noise and air pollution.

"Leaf blowers like those, for half an hour, are worse than a car going from Toronto to Montreal and back," Penalosa said.

Studies by the California Air Resources Board and Environmental Protection Agency in the United States have shown emissions from two-stroke gas-powered engines like those used in leaf blowers to be significantly more harmful pound-for-pound than emissions from vehicles.

A potential ban is hopeful news for John Watt and Dundee Staunton, who both live in Deer Park, a neighbourhood just north of downtown Toronto. Last year, they founded Gas Busters, a group dedicated to stopping the use of gas-powered leaf blowers.

"It started from our concern over the emissions created by gas leaf blowers and related garden equipment," said Watt, who adds the group now has more than 600 members.

"It's long overdue that Toronto stop being a lagger in protecting our health and environment."

Experts say the health effects aren't just produced by emissions. Tor Oiamo, a professor of Geography and Environmental studies at Toronto Metropolital University (TMU), has studied noise pollution in cities extensively. He says it can cause sleep disturbance, which is a major contributor to heart disease, diabetes and stroke.

"There are significant burdens of disease from the excessive noise exposures. They haven't been calculated yet for the Canadian population, but I can assure you it's in the millions," he says.

Oiamo says his own 2000 study showed there were higher rates of diabetes and cardiovascular disease amongst Toronto residents exposed to excessive noise.

But not everyone supports such a ban, especially those who use the machines regularly.

Sufian Ali, who owns and operates SA Landscape Associates, says he couldn't do his job without gas-powered leaf blowers.

"We used to do it with two guys with rakes and that took us pretty much all day," says Ali, describing a client's property he has worked on since founding his company seven years ago.

"Now we come in with two of these blowers and we finish it up in about two hours with two guys."

Ali adds that he hasn't received any complaints in five years of using gas-powered leaf blowers.

In fact, City of Toronto documents show complaints related to leaf blowers to be relatively few, with just 174 over a three-year period.

Some cities have taken bold steps towards eliminating the use of gas-powered blowers. The West End of Vancouver has banned them outright, while cities such as Portland and Ottawa have decided on phasing them out by 2025.

These policies wouldn't eliminate all leaf blowers. Many are advocating for the more environmentally-friendly electric-powered option.

Sean James, a career landscaper and Master Gardener, says the technology has come a long way.

"There are better machines," he said. "The battery-powered technology has gotten a lot better."

James also says the landscaping industry needs to rethink its approach to clearing leaves.

"We need to reset the expectations of customers. People expect every leaf to be gone, every speck of dust to be gone, and that's just silly."

He says people should increase the use of leaves as mulch, which would cut down on the need for high-powered blowers.

"If you didn't need to use the blower so much, then you could rely more on on a quieter, lighter electric tool."

Others support a phased approach, including limiting time of year or time of day blowers can be used. The City of Toronto recently limited the hours of use for leaf blowers, but only by one hour per day. 

If elected, Penalosa says he wouldn't put in a ban immediately, but is adamant gas-powered blowers need to go.

"They don't need to stop in 24 hours, but they will need to be phased out quickly."