A plea against leaf blowers and vacuum cleaners
As soon as the lawnmowers fall silent, a different kind of noise can be heard in the neighboring gardens. Autumn is also the time for leaf blowers and vacuum cleaners. These extremely unpleasant contemporaries are supposed to make life easier for us gardening enthusiasts. But their engines are as loud as jackhammers. And in addition to the stench, they also stir up a lot of fine dust. Today we #Beetschwestern are giving you some reasons why it's better to use good old rakes and brooms in a natural garden instead of these motorized tools.
"They are loud, dirty, dangerous for animals and harmful to our health"
NOISE
The resulting noise pollution is enormous. Leaf blowers and vacuum cleaners are as loud as jackhammers or chainsaws. Their noise level is between 90 and 130 decibels, which is why they may only be used in residential areas at certain times and not at all at weekends.
FINE DUST POLLUTION
The Technical University of Munich has investigated the fine dust pollution caused by leaf blowers: The devices whirled up ten times as many particles as a rake. This includes microbes, fungal spores, garbage and animal excrement, which are whirled up and dispersed finely in the air. It was proven that the use of leaf blowers leads to a health-threatening increase in airborne germs in the environment.
ANIMALS
Leaf vacuum cleaners with a shredding function not only shred the leaves but also all the living creatures they contain, such as spiders, beetles, millipedes, insect larvae, earthworms, etc. This can even be fatal for small mammals without a pronounced escape behavior (such as hedgehog children). Leaf blowers whirl them around at speeds of up to 220 km/h. As leaves perform an important fertilizing, hibernation and protective function in the garden, overly thorough cleaning is highly questionable and should be rejected from our #Beetschwestern point of view. We should leave the leaves in the garden - in suitable places.
Caution: Leaves should never be burned, as this produces gases that are harmful to the environment. harmful gases develop. If you really don't want to keep the leaves garden should dispose of them in the organic waste garbage can.
