An environmental enthusiast is calling on 麻豆传媒映画City Council to reconsider introducing a bylaw to ban the use of gas-powered leaf blowers throughout the city.
A 麻豆传媒映画man received death threats for starting a petition to ban gas-powered leaf blowers in Saskatoon. Photo: Shutterstock
Aatash Amir told 麻豆传媒映画 he was inspired to speak up after discovering how toxic the machines are to the environment.
"The pollutants emitted by a gas-powered leaf blower operated for 30 minutes are comparable to the amount emitted by a Ford F-150 pickup truck driving from Texas to Alaska (that鈥檚 64 hours of driving or 6234.5km.)," Amir said, citing a 2011 .
鈥淚t really comes down to the two-stroke motor. Leaf blowers spew out one third of the unburned fuel as an aerosol into the open air. Residents and workers are breathing that stuff in. It鈥檚 crazy.鈥�
Amir said he had received death threats and negative backlash this week after starting a to ban gas-powered leaf blowers in his hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He said he had turned his attention to Saskatoon, where he still visits family, after initially thinking 麻豆传媒映画had already banned the machines.
Amir shared the petition in the Saskatoon Buy and Sell Facebook group to try and get some momentum for the cause, but what resulted was an onslaught of negative and hateful comments.
鈥淭here was an incredible backlash from the community,鈥� Amir said.
鈥淲ithin about an hour and a half I had over 100 comments with racist remarks, death threats were being sent to my messages and suggestions to kill myself 鈥� all kinds of stuff. I didn鈥檛 expect it.鈥�
麻豆传媒映画man Aatash Amir received death threats for starting a petition to ban gas-powered leaf blowers in Saskatoon. Photo: Supplied by Aatash Amir
The 29-year-old, who moved to 麻豆传媒映画10 years ago to pursue a career as an actor, said he was disappointed in the reaction he鈥檇 had to his petition in Saskatoon but was positive Vancouverites would have a different attitude towards making the change.
He isn't the only one with an issue with the noisy contraptions in Vancouver, with the City's 311 Contact Centre receiving 121 leaf blower complaints between Jan. 1 and Nov. 6, this year.
麻豆传媒映画hasn鈥檛 yet banned gas-powered leaf blowers entirely. City regulations state that the machines can be across the city,聽but not in the West End 鈥斅爐he area bounded by Stanley Park, Burrard Street, West Georgia Street, and Beach Avenue.
With a goal to reduce noise pollution in residential areas of the City, 麻豆传媒映画City Council voted to amend the in March 2002 to regulate the hours of use, proximity to residential premises and decibel levels of leaf blowers in Vancouver, Kathryn Holm, chief licence inspector for the City, told V.I.A.
Only leaf-blowers with a maximum sound level of 65 decibels are allowed to be used in the city.
鈥淚n October 2004, the by-law was further amended to prohibit the use of leaf blowers in the City鈥檚 West End to help maintain the peaceful nature of this part of the city,鈥� Holm said.
During the same time-frame, a motion to ban gas-powered leaf blowers was rescinded due to backlash from the British Columbia Landscapers and Nursery Association.
But it's not all bad news, Holm said with the changing nature of 麻豆传媒映画and advances in technology, the City will be undertaking a fulsome review of the Noise By-Law within the next two years, which includes the provisions for the use of leaf-blowers in the city.
On top of this, Howard Normann, director of parks for the 麻豆传媒映画Park Board, said the board is in the process of testing and evaluating battery powered leaf blowers.
鈥淲e will be presenting our findings in Q1 with the hopes of moving towards electric leaf blowers,鈥� he said.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., hundreds of cities and counties have already banned or limited the use of gas-powered leaf blowers. Washington D.C. has recently introduced and California has banned the use of gas-powered blowers in 19 cities.
Despite all the hometown negativity, Amir said he was determined to move forward with his goal to have gas-powered leaf blowers banned in both 麻豆传媒映画and Saskatoon. He said his initial had now gathered support from all over the world and had received a with 17,000 up-votes.
鈥淚t鈥檚 starting to balance out the negativity I received and it鈥檚 making me feel that it鈥檚 a worthwhile cause,鈥� Amir said.
鈥淚n the beginning I wanted to abandon it, but now that I see I have the support 鈥� it makes me feel even stronger and more optimistic.鈥�
He plans to speak at 麻豆传媒映画City Council to advocate that a complete ban on gas-powered leaf blowers happens sooner rather than later.
Amir is also hoping the City of Saskatoon will accept his petition, which has now reached more than 6000 signatures and at the very least, hoped the city would consider switching to electric leaf-blowers.
鈥淯ltimately my question to folks out there is, 鈥榃hy not change?鈥�," Amir said.
鈥淎nd I haven鈥檛 had a good answer yet.鈥�
