Sustainable Landscaping
It’s Clean, It’s Quiet, It’s Healthy
Overview
Gas-powered landscaping equipment causes significant air and noise pollution and negatively affects workers, neighborhoods, habitat and health of the soil. LOSN has launched a campaign to support healthy yard care practices and the transition away from gas-powered landscaping equipment.
Our mission is to usher in a new era of landscape practices that restore the environment, protect public health, and encourage long-term sustainability, increased biodiversity, and enhanced resilience.
The Problem with Gas-Powered
Landscaping Equipment
- EXTREME NOISE
Low-frequency and high-decibel, the noise of a gas-powered blower is significantly louder than electric. It permeates walls and negatively impacts up to 90 surrounding homes. The noise contributes to hearing loss, high blood pressure and stress.
- HEALTH RISKS
Two-stroke engines burn a mixture of gasoline and oil. They produce exhaust fumes laden with high levels of benzene, butadiene, formaldehyde, and fine particulates which are known carcinogens that are associated with respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological harm. - ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
Toxic waste and smog-forming emissions from these engines harm ecosystems and contribute to the climate crisis. Gas leaf blowers create up to 200-mph wind force which sends dust that can contain pollen, mold, animal feces, heavy metals and chemicals from herbicides and pesticides into the air.
Healthy Yard Care
- CARE FOR THE PLANTS AND THE SOIL
Avoid the use of all leaf blowers around plantings. They erode and compact the soil and damage habitat for beneficial insects and pollinators. - AVOID HERBICIDES AND PESTICIDES
Most yards do not need these dangerous chemicals, which are harmful to children, pets, wildlife, insects and waterways. - LEAVE THE LEAVES
Leaves and other plant matter under trees and shrubs help build mulch, healthy soil and habitat for pollinators and wildlife. LEARN MORE...
Click the image below to open a pdf copy of the mailer sent to 14,000 homes in Lake Oswego in August, 2024.
April 2025 Newsletter
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Lake Oswego Sustainability Network Newsletter
April 2024
Click the image below to read your copy in a new browser window.
What You Can Do
- Buy electric tools. They’re affordable, clean and effective.
- Share your electric tools with your landscaper. Offer to provide them with a fresh battery on your day of service.
- Ask them to use brooms and rakes and to practice healthy yard care.
- Hire a landscaper who offers alternatives to gas-powered maintenance. WE HAVE A LIST!
How You Can Help
Your participation is important to the success of our campaign. Here are ways you can help us expedite the transition away from gas-powered landscaping equipment and toward more healthy and sustainable practices:
- Join the Electrify Your Landscaping and Healthy Yard Care Committee.
- Write a letter to the Editor.
LO Review – published letters to the editor
Oregonian – published letters to the editor - Donate to LOSN.
- Request a Gas Free Landscape 11” x 11” yard sign.
Contact
Kathleen Wiens [email protected]
Resources
Video
- 12/9/2025 Youtube video – Kress KC510.9 – commercial handheld battery blower
- 11/5/2025 Youtube video – Kress KC500.9 commercial backpack battery blower demonstration
- (Webinar) Electric Yard Care – Ditch the Gas
- May On-line Forum: Transitioning to Electric Landscaping Equipment
- Video: Did You Know Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers Are Bad for Our Kids’ Health?
Websites and Documents
- 1/6/2026 Oregonian/OregonLive article: Portland’s gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect
- 12/11/25 WW article: Seller of Electric Leaf Blowers Sees Opportunity in Portland Policy
- 12/5/25 LO Review: Should LO Ban Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers? Councilors Weigh In
- Jan 2023: The Economics of Switching to Battery-Powered Leaf Blowers: A Cost Comparison
- 8/6/2019 Lake Oswego Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) white paper: “Options for Addressing Local Air and Noise Pollution from Gas-Powered Landscape Maintenance Equipment”
- Portland Electric Landscaping Initiative
- What it Takes to Defeat the Leaf Blowers
- E-quipment highlight: the highest-rated lawnmowers on Amazon are ELECTRIC
- The Advantages of Electric Yard Tools
- Lake OsWEgo Landscaping
- What can cities and states do to address leaf blowers and other gas-powered lawn equipment?
- Electric Lawn Equipment 101
- Electric Power Tool Assessment
- Gas lawn equipment is horrible for health – here’s how these cities are fixing it.
- Leaf Blower Recycling in the Portland Area
- Yards on Fire – Gas-Powered Lawn Equipment and Health
– Blog
– Podcast - The Best Electric Lawnmowers in 2024 (CNN)
- Small Engine Fact Sheet from California Air Resources Board
- Electrification Resources from Electrify LO
- Quiet Clean Alliance
- QuietCleanPDX
- Protect Durham, Oregon from Pollution
- American Green Zone Alliance (AGZA)
- Quiet Communities Inc
- Options for Addressing Local Air and Noise Pollution from Gas-Powered Landscape Maintenance Equipment
- Las ventajas de las herramientas eléctricas de jardinería
- The advantages of all-electric yard tools
- Landscapers offering alternatives to gas-powered equipment
- Electric vs gas-powered leaf blowers: myths and facts
In the News …
-
- Bans on this landscaping tool continue to spread across the US. See where.
- Officials consider banning common landscaping equipment with new bill: ‘It’s a beautiful thing’
- New York Times guest essay: The Era of the American Lawn Is Over
- New report shows a shocking amount of pollution from gas-powered leaf blowers, lawn mowers in Oregon
- Readers respond: Expand ban on gas-powered leaf blowers (The Oregonian)
- Portland Bans Leaf Blowers (The Oregonian)
- Portland Bans Leaf Blowers (KGW)
- Portland Bans Leaf Blowers (KOIN)
- Movement to ‘Make America Rake Again’
- Video: Groups Pressure Legislators to Ban Gas-Powered Lawn and Garden Equipment
- Gas Powered Leaf Blowers Are Going Away Sooner or Later. Make it Sooner.
- Here’s Why Electric Lawn Mowers Are Cutting Down the Gas-Fueled Competition
- Lawn Care Goes Electric
- The Problem with Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers
- May 8, 2021 – Lake Oswego Review: Let’s talk about electric lawn equipment
Sustainable Landscaping-Related Newsletters
- March 2026 – Learn how sustainable landscaping is clean, quiet and healthy!
- April 2025 – What’s the problem with gas-powered landscape equipment?
- April 2024 – Electrify your landscaping and healthy yard care
- April 2021 – Electric Landscaping Update
Success Stories
Works Great While Providing Surprising Resilience
Submitted by Michael Earp
Today’s electric mowers are very light and have a long runtime with a powerful Lithium battery. It is so quiet and easy to push and can do the entire lot with no problem.