On a lighter but rantier note...

[ewt]

Leafblowers:

WHY?

Ugh. Stupid.

Comments

[mubeimmik.livejournal.com]

I would rather listen to leafblowers than the horrible jackhammery noise that the people across the way are making with their renovations! Unless you aren't complaining of noises rather than the blowing action, then I got nothin ;)

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

To express SUPREMACY over our NON-MECHANICAL PLANT SUBJECTS, of course.

[spangle-kitten.livejournal.com]

Autumn was always quite funny where I used to live. Every single year the next door neighbours would always blow the leaves across the road, then the people that lived opposite would blow them back again, locked in battle until winter ;p

[scotiva.livejournal.com]

So lazy fat people don't have to go to all that terrible bother of raking up leaves. Much easier to blow them into somebody else's garden.

[pplfichi.livejournal.com]

Local authorities etc use them as they are reasonably fast at moving the things into piles for bagging.

[nitoda]

There are reasons. Our old garden in Doncaster had many trees and a high hedge. It had what was supposed to be a lawn too but over the years it had grown more moss and weeds than grass. Leaving the fallen leaves on the "lawn" contributes to killing the grass. Raking leaves is backbreaking labour. Leaves don't all compost well.
What exactly about leaf blowers do you object to?

[fivemack.livejournal.com]

My guess is a combination of loudness and the fact that petrol-powered leaf blowers are incredibly polluting (inefficient two-stroke engines without catalytic converter); electric leaf blowers exist, but seem to run about fifteen minutes per battery, and I can't find a model for which you can conveniently keep ten hours of batteries in your van and swap out batteries when they expire.

[nitoda]

Ah - our leaf blower was electrically powered on a lead. A long lead. :-)

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

If raking leaves is backbreaking then you need a rake with a longer handle, like sweeping. Or...other things where you have a long pole that goes down to the ground. Crutches and things.

[nitoda]

If you enjoy raking leaves from around a dozen trees in a quarter acre plot, then all strength to you. I've never understood why people like gardening. To me it is all hard labour. But raking and bagging leaves ranks right up there with shovelling snow.

I'm glad your mileage seems to vary.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Oh boy, shovelling snow!

It may help to point out that my only form of exercise is doing stuff like that, and I really like it. Running just feels like too much pain for not enough results. Raking leaves, shovelling snow and digging vegetable plots makes me feel like I've done something really useful and sleep really well.

[kitsunekaboom.livejournal.com]

This can be the only possible purpose to such devices (http://devilspanties.keenspot.com/d/20071004.html)

[damerell.livejournal.com]

How the devil do you two know each other?

[kitsunekaboom.livejournal.com]

How do I know ewtikins or Jennie Breeden?

[damerell.livejournal.com]

ewt.

[kitsunekaboom.livejournal.com]

There was a meet up of livejournalers in London. spaglet brought me to it.

[sci.livejournal.com]

Good for starting pulsejet engines?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz00R2sGqpk

[gafferbear.livejournal.com]

One of my neighbors has an almost-silent electric leafblower which he charges on a solar panel. I have no objections.

I have, OTOH, written several letters requesting that the loud petroleum-based two-stroke (noise AND air pollution, all in one senseless tool!) blowers used by the landscaping companies hired by my landlord be removed from use; and that we used to use rakes.

For the objection that leaves don't compost well, there are a variety of things to be done, mostly by adding favorable bacteria to your compost pile. Should take care THAT.

For anyone who considers raking backbreaking:

PAY YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD CHILDREN TO RAKE YOUR LAWN.
My parents insisted this is "What Children Are For".
You'd be amazed at what a couple of kids will do, and well, for two dollars apiece.

[spodlife]

Completely stupid - noisy, smelly, bad for the environment, and ultimately a waste of time.