As Philly council mulls gas leaf blower ban, lawn equipment companies strut their battery-powered stuff

Andrew Rossi flipped the starter switch to a Milwaukee Tool leaf blower Tuesday in front of Philadelphia City Hall and the machine purred to about 60 decibels, the equivalent level of background sound in an office.

“Most gas units are anywhere between 75 to 80 decibels,” said Rossi, a territory manager for Milwaukee. “That’s a large audible difference.”

Rossi’s demonstration, alongside one by Stihl, another power tool producer, was part of an effort to gain support for battery-powered lawn equipment as a City Council bill introduced in December by Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. would ban gas-powered leaf blowers. The bill, titled “Noise and Excessive Vibration,” awaits a hearing before the Committee on Public Safety.

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, chair of Council’s committee on the environment, said battery leaf blowers are not only less noisy but better for the environment because they do not burn fossil fuels as do typical two-stroke engines used in gas equipment that burn a mix of oil and gas.

“Preparing our city to withstand global warming is perhaps the most important task we have right now,” Gauthier said during a news conference hosted by the nonprofit advocacy group PennEnvironment. “Government cannot do this work on its own. We need everyday residents to be a part of Philadelphia’s green future.”

Gauthier said gas-powered lawn and garden equipment emitted more than 50,000 tons of air pollutants in 2020, and helps fuel climate change.

“The carcinogens emitted by these tools are linked to health problems such as asthma attacks, reproductive issues, mental health challenges, cancer, and even premature death,” she said. “Today is April Fools’ Day, but this is no joke. Using a fossil fuel-powered leaf blower for just one hour … emits as much pollution as driving from Philly to Florida.”

Gauthier said gas equipment is “smelly, noisy, costly.”

Electric leaf blowers are cleaner, quieter, easier to use, and cheaper to use over their lifetime, she said.

However, most battery-powered equipment is more costly upfront and lawn care companies often need multiple batteries to keep going without stopping to recharge.

Rossi, the Milwaukee Tool representative, said that although battery-powered blowers faced initial resistance because of “sticker shock,” they are now being adopted by lawn care companies. Milwaukee has a team dedicated to getting companies to switch, he said.

Milwaukee Tool has partnered with BrightView, a national landscaping company based in Blue Bell. Rossi said that while battery charging is still an issue, the batteries have gotten quicker to charge, more efficient, and longer lasting.

“Over the past several years, battery technology has advanced, and so have the electronics and motors,” he said. “That’s been the biggest deciding factor … Run time is always an issue when it comes to the blowers, but companies are starting to see the benefit of having all battery-operated equipment over the longevity of its life, in terms of reduced gas costs, reduced maintenance costs, and it’s safer for their customers and their employees.”

Ellie Kerns, clean energy advocate for PennEnvironment, said the nonprofit arranged for Milwaukee Tool and Stihl to appear to demonstrate the “benefits of cleaner, quieter, electric lawn equipment.”

“Everyone’s experienced that frustration of listening to that loud roar of gas-powered lawn equipment,” Kerns said. “But you may not know or be aware of the shocking amount of air and climate pollution that’s emitted at the same time.”

According to a PennEnvironment study, she said, gas equipment in Philadelphia produces more fine particulate pollution than the emissions of 400,000 cars and produces more than 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide over the course of a year. She said those fine particulates are emitted as Philly has a childhood asthma rate roughly three times the national average.

Gerhart Arndt, owner of Lafayette Hill-based Sustainable Lawn Care Services, said his company has used all-electric powered equipment since 2020.

“From my experience,” he said, “It’s a beautiful thing. It’s extremely efficient to be able to just pick up a piece of equipment, press the trigger or the power button and go.”

Richard Metz, of Quiet Clean Philly, which is pushing for a transition away from gas-powered equipment, said reducing noise is a major factor for the switch.

“The sound of one or two of these gas powered leaf blowers on a neighbor’s property for hours is so awful,” he said. “It’s so maddening. It’s just so unfair that one person can intrude on, disrupt the lives of everyone around them. We don’t have to live like this.”