Chances are, you’ve had the pleasure of listening to the soothing tune of a two-stroke leaf blower wake you up. If not, you’ve certainly heard complaints from a neighbor or read an angry thread on Nextdoor.
While gas-powered leaf blowers are effective at cleaning yards, their noise and air pollution have sparked a debate that has polarized neighbors.
In a movement to “Make America Rake Again,” over 100 cities have banned gas-powered blowers nationwide, and the use of the ubiquitous autumnal apparatus has begun to fall. Palo Alto is one of those cities, having banned leaf blowers in residential neighborhoods since 2005…