Quiet Clean Kirkland (QCK) is a volunteer group striving to reduce air and noise pollution and improve worker health by phasing out obsolete gas-powered leaf blowers in Kirkland and beyond. We are part of a growing nationwide “Quiet Clean” movement.
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Announcing the Quiet Clean Alliance (QCA), a network of independent campaigns across the U.S. working to eliminate gas leaf blowers from our communities due to their considerable health and environmental harms. Our goal is to accelerate the shift away from gas leaf blowers and other gas-powered landscape equipment at local, state, and national levels.
Washington State bill to ban sales of gas-powered leaf blowers
We are working closely with Rep. Amy Walen to draft a 2025 bill that would ban the sales of gas-powered leaf blowers and provide assistance to small businesses to help them transition to safer, cleaner technology. Because Federal rules do not allow states to enact emissions regulations on small gas engines (CA has a special exemption), this bill will focus on worker health and safety. Stay tuned for updates!
Meanwhile, email your city, county, and state reps to tell them that you support a ban on the use or sale of gas-powered leaf blowers.
Check back here for updates, or sign up for our mailing list.
We are working closely with Rep. Amy Walen to draft a 2025 bill that would ban the sales of gas-powered leaf blowers and provide assistance to small businesses to help them transition to safer, cleaner technology. Because Federal rules do not allow states to enact emissions regulations on small gas engines (CA has a special exemption), this bill will focus on worker health and safety. Stay tuned for updates!
Meanwhile, email your city, county, and state reps to tell them that you support a ban on the use or sale of gas-powered leaf blowers.
- To contact your state representatives: https://app.leg.wa.gov/memberemail/ (if you don't know your district number, click on the "Find My District" link on the left side).
- Google to find your city and county council contact info.
Check back here for updates, or sign up for our mailing list.
The Kirkland City Council adopted Resolution R-5585 on April 18, 2023. This resolution authorizes the creation of the Electric Leaf Blower Initiative and outlines a three-year phased approach to sunset gas-powered hand-held and backpack leaf blowers in Kirkland. The Electric Leaf Blower Initiative has four goals:
- Sunset the use of gas-powered hand-held and backpack leaf blowers in Kirkland by a target date of December 31, 2025
- Reduce negative health impacts caused by gas emissions
- Ensure a responsive transition to electric leaf blowers that reduces the burden and maximizes the potential benefit to Kirkland landscaping businesses and residents
- Be proactive in anticipation of potential State decisions to sunset gas-powered equipment
Nationwide, more than 100 U.S. cities and towns have already prohibited or limited the use of gas-powered leaf blowers, or are planning to do so, including Seattle. The list keeps growing. California will ban their sale statewide starting in 2024.
Here are links to a few other Quiet Clean Groups:
Quiet Clean Seattle
Quiet Clean Portland
Quiet Clean D.C.
Why?
The two-stroke gas powered engines in leaf blowers and similar equipment are vastly the dirtiest and most polluting kind of machinery still in legal use. According to the California Air Resources Board (CARB), two-stroke leaf blowers and similar equipment in the state produce more ozone pollution than all of California’s tens of millions of cars, combined. And according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, two-stroke engines expose their operators to unusually high levels of carcinogens, including benzene and other dangerous substances.
One Washington State Senate report summarizes the issue succinctly:
…gasoline-powered landscape equipment emits a host of air pollutants … contributing to the global climate crisis and negatively impacting public health. According to the United States environmental protection agency, gas-powered mowers [alone] contribute five percent of United States air pollution and estimates indicate more than 17 million gallons of fuel, mostly gasoline, is spilled each year while refueling lawn equipment. Nationally, the department of transportation data shows that in 2018, Americans used nearly 3 billion gallons of gasoline running lawn and garden equipment, equivalent to the annual energy use of more than 3 million homes. One hour of running a gas leaf blower can contribute as much smog-forming pollution as driving a passenger car 1,100 miles.
The legislature further finds that the small gas engines used in lawn and garden equipment are not only bad for the environment and contributing to climate change, but they can also cause asthma, hearing loss, and other health issues for workers who use them. Going electric can generate health benefits and protect those who have to hear, handle, and inhale gas engines for hours on end. Additionally, the noise from gas-powered equipment can be a nuisance, with many communities enacting restrictions on the use of commercial lawn equipment. Residents value the quiet of electric equipment, especially during a time when many are working [and studying] from home.
Here are links to a few other Quiet Clean Groups:
Quiet Clean Seattle
Quiet Clean Portland
Quiet Clean D.C.
Why?
The two-stroke gas powered engines in leaf blowers and similar equipment are vastly the dirtiest and most polluting kind of machinery still in legal use. According to the California Air Resources Board (CARB), two-stroke leaf blowers and similar equipment in the state produce more ozone pollution than all of California’s tens of millions of cars, combined. And according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, two-stroke engines expose their operators to unusually high levels of carcinogens, including benzene and other dangerous substances.
One Washington State Senate report summarizes the issue succinctly:
…gasoline-powered landscape equipment emits a host of air pollutants … contributing to the global climate crisis and negatively impacting public health. According to the United States environmental protection agency, gas-powered mowers [alone] contribute five percent of United States air pollution and estimates indicate more than 17 million gallons of fuel, mostly gasoline, is spilled each year while refueling lawn equipment. Nationally, the department of transportation data shows that in 2018, Americans used nearly 3 billion gallons of gasoline running lawn and garden equipment, equivalent to the annual energy use of more than 3 million homes. One hour of running a gas leaf blower can contribute as much smog-forming pollution as driving a passenger car 1,100 miles.
The legislature further finds that the small gas engines used in lawn and garden equipment are not only bad for the environment and contributing to climate change, but they can also cause asthma, hearing loss, and other health issues for workers who use them. Going electric can generate health benefits and protect those who have to hear, handle, and inhale gas engines for hours on end. Additionally, the noise from gas-powered equipment can be a nuisance, with many communities enacting restrictions on the use of commercial lawn equipment. Residents value the quiet of electric equipment, especially during a time when many are working [and studying] from home.
