Quiet Clean Eugene

09/14/2025

For the Southeast Neighbors Annual Picnic yesterday

12/05/2023

https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/the-gasoline-powered-leaf-blower-as-a-metaphor-for-industrial-society/

Leaf blowers contribute significantly to worsening noise pollution in cities. Wildlife experience chronic stress as a result, with birds having to sing louder to find mates or define breeding territory.

11/15/2023

**Your voice needs to be heard**

Email the City's Sustainability Commission with why you care about a GLB-free Eugene and why: [email protected]

11/15/2023

Marissa Theve is helping head a new effort to encourage residents and businesses to switch to cleaner, quieter electric landscaping equipment.

11/15/2023

Master Gardener Tip of the Week

Do you have mountains and mountains of leaves in your yard? Some people will place their leaves into their greenwaste bin to haul away to a composting facility, but you can also put them to good use around your yard and garden. Leaves make a fantastic mulch that suppress weeds, insulate the soil to help protect plants from damaging freeze/thaw cycles, and feed the organisms that help maintain a healthy soil. Leaves also help to protect the soil from the impact of raindrops that would otherwise break down the surface soil structure over time.

Leaves can be used as mulch in garden beds, or around roses, azaleas, rhododendrons and berries for winter protection. You generally want a 2 to 3-inch layer for protection.

Whole leaves tend to get matted down, so run them through a lawn mower or a shredder of some sort to break them up a bit.

Leaves can also be composted. Dried leaves are high in Carbon, so you will want to mix them with a feedstock that is high in Nitrogen, such as grass clippings or kitchen scraps.

By spring of next year, most of the leaves will have decomposed, leaving a nice layer of organic matter behind.

Photo: Erica Chernoh, OSU Extension Service

11/15/2023

For nearly a decade, the group Quiet Clean PDX has worked to get a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers. Now, both the City of Portland and Multnomah County are looking into how that ban would work.

09/30/2023

Looking to get involved? Here are a few ways to take action:
~Get informed about the immediate and long-term health, environmental, and social justice implications of gas-powered leaf blowers, and the benefits of reducing dependence on blowers / switching to electric: https://www.quietcleandc.com/resources
~Write your local City Councilor - Find your ward and rep. here: https://www.eugene-or.gov/537/Mayor-and-City-Council
~Raise the issue with your neighborhood association: https://www.eugene-or.gov/.../Neighborhood-Association...
~Attend a monthly QCE meeting / get involved with our efforts - message us here or email *[email protected]*

The mayor serves as the City’s political head and chairperson of the council. She is elected by the City at large on a nonpartisan ballot for a four-year term. The mayor is the formal representative of the City. She presides over City Council meetings but has no vote except in the case of a tie. 

09/30/2023

https://njmonthly.com/articles/news/the-war-on-gas-powered-leaf-blowers-is-revving-up-across-new-jersey/?fbclid=IwAR25GgBJt9VB0YNylQ3daa6IhOVI8ZHfAG7jIi9Jcahv7yyXHTnPpgfd7dY

More towns are limiting the use of—or even completely banning—gas-powered blowers, citing health and environmental concerns.

09/30/2023

Leaf blower effectiveness, termed "power" as quoted above is measured as:
Force, units usually in Newtons or in pounds
Or Air Flow rate, units given as CFM (cubic feet per minute)
Or Speed, units given as MPH (miles per hour)

All of these terms are useful; retailers most commonly use CFM.

Electric backpack style leaf blowers
EGO brand 600 CFM $399 with (1) 7.5 amp battery with battery charger
EGO brand 800 CFM $699 with (2) 7.5 amp batteries with battery charger

Electric handheld leaf blower
EGO brand 765 CFM $299 with (1) 5 amp battery with battery charger

Gas backpack style leaf blowers
Stihl brand 400 CFM $329
Stihl brand 600 CFM $549
Stihl brand 900 CFM $699

For a fair comparison, the owner of an electric leaf blower probably would need to buy an additional battery.
An EGO 7.5 amp battery: $350

Of course, there are many other brands.
EGO is the most highly rated electric; Stihl is the most widely sold gas.
600 CFM is adequate for blowing wet leaves, according to local landscape contractors
However, there is even an 1,100 CFM gas powered backpack style blower made by ECHO.
According to the QC/PDX website, a gas powered leaf blower delivering 600 cfm is at a decibel noise level exceeding 70 decibels.
70 decibels or greater, at a distance of 50 feet or greater, is in violation of the COE environmental noise ordinance 6.750 Section E.