There’s no doubt that Americans buy a lot of stuff they don’t need. What really kills me is when we do things that make no sense what-so-ever. I’m talking about the weekly leaf blower cacophony that originates from our dedicated lawn men.
We witness it from several locations during our day. It’s usually the same type of act. You hear the “WHHHHIRRRRRaaahRUM, WHHHHIRRRUM” sound walking up the street. For our family, it’s usually going to fall around dinner time or when we are trying to converse on the porch. “WuuuuuuuuUUUUm Wum Wum”. The sound gets louder and louder until it finally drives us away like an angry nest of yellowjackets would.
I don’t want to make fun of lawn care professionals. They need to earn a buck like anybody else. The mower seems like a necessary evil. The weed whacker, as much as I loath one, does an admirable service. We actually rent our home, so our landlord “gives us this service” as added value. We must endure it.
OK, back to the leaf blower. What good does it do? Here is this guy revving up a machine and blowing leaves into a pile. He’s disrupted the whole neighborhood. We’re all on edge. Then he walks away! Here’s what happens next. The prevailing winds spread the leaves back onto the road just like they were. Its like the Wild West. We staked our property lines to keep in our cattle. But unlike cows, we are trying to keep the leaves out of our property lines. Once a guy blows his leaves away, his neighbor comes out with a leaf blower and blows leaves onto the next guys gutter. Then the wind blows again. Then the cycle repeats. What the hell is wrong with you people?
In a time of waning resources, we need to get smart about lawn care.
I’ve come across several articles on the net talking about how much pollution lawn equipment puts out. This article suggests that a lawn mower puts out as much pollutions as 8 cars going 55 mph.
The leaf blower is the tip of the ice burg. I would get rid of the rest of the yard equipment if I could. It would seem that some families in Asheville share my view. If you take a trip around the Montford district, you will see quite a few yards that have turned the high maintenance grass into a garden of rocks, deciduous trees, mulch, shrubs and flowers. As I walk by these houses, I never hear the mind blowing sounds of lawn equipment. I usually see a relaxed lady with garden gloves and a straw hat. She is contentedly tending her flowers.
I would have to do more research, but I tend to believe that this type of yard is much less maintenance in the long run than a grass yard would be. I know people will argue with me with things like “Kids need a yard to play in”. Perhaps that is true. However, a lot of people would probably love to trade their grass yard for a low maintenance rock garden. The benefits are clear.
- reduction of noise pollution
- reduction of air pollution
- possibly less chemicals needed by using deciduous trees, flowers and shrubs.
- less maintenance time and cost
- less strain on gasoline supplies
Let me know what you think. Not everybody will agree with this argument. I like to bring it up when most of the focus on high gas prices revolve around the automobile.
