Gas Leaf Blowers and Our Planet
- Louisa Hernandez
- Jun 5, 2024
- 2 min read
Our planet is dying. We’ve tried putting it off, claiming there’s more important issues right now like immigration, the rise of AI, inflation. However, in 20 years when there’s no bees, no birds and no Los Angeles, we’ll wish we still had those problems. You may think it’s an impossibility, and once it gets bad enough we’ll just move to mars and life can continue like normal. However the truth is, there is no escape. We’re not expected to colonize mars until 2050– and that’s if everything goes right. Therefore, there is no rocket to mars and there is no second chance. If we start confronting the problem now, in 20 years we won’t have to breathe through masks and the earth will look better than it does now. However, to do that we need to confront the problem head on– fossil fuels.
The leading driver in climate change in 2020 was gas powered landscaping machines. The stats show that going electric could greatly improve our ecosystem. If you don’t trust what I’m telling you, then just have a look at the info. Using a gas powered leaf blower for an hour emits an amount of fossil fuels equal to those emitted by a car driving 1100 miles, from the top of Oregon to the bottom of California— a 12 hour car ride. This shows that gas leaf blowers emit 12 times the pollution a car emits. So, why don’t we make the change? Because people in Winnetka are scared of their neighbors seeing a leaf on their lawn. We think climate change doesn’t apply to us, but it very much does.
Now, before you say it’s not just Winnetka, it very much is. Towns like Evanston, Oak Park and Highland Park already have year long bans, or have a set date to put the ban in place. People are going to wish they had leaves in their yards in 20 years, so let’s confront the problem now and switch to electric. We only have everything to lose.
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