Resilient Palisades Offers Canyon Residents Tools to Sunset Gas Leaf Blowers
By Chad Billmyer
Special to Canyon News
While a number of garden crews have switched to electric, some crews in Santa Monica Canyon continue to use gas leaf blowers in violation of municipal code.
Resilient Palisades, which was recently recognized as the 2025 California Nonprofit of the Year for District 24 by state Sen. Ben Allen, offers Canyon residents a variety of resources to support homeowner conversations with gardeners about the conversion to electric. Electric leaf blowers reduce noise, air, and even water pollution.
But as Sheda Morshed, a former member of the Resilient Palisades Gas-Free team, reminds residents, “There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution.”
Resilient Palisades is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works to strengthen the Palisades community as it responds to ecological and climate challenges. One page on their website is dedicated to leaf blower facts. The resource toolkit includes a pdf flyer in English and Spanish that Canyon residents can use to facilitate a conversation with gardeners about the best way to go electric. Resilient Palisades modified the flyer from a version created by the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council Green Committee.
Morshed notes, "Raking is the optimal solution, but is more practical for smaller properties and less meticulous homeowners. For blowers, unless it's a property with low blow-demand, a commercial-grade blower offers longer battery life, more power, and is ergonomically designed to reduce hand and shoulder injuries. But this equipment is expensive to purchase (albeit less expensive to maintain due to fewer moving parts), and therefore, is the main barrier for gardeners to make the switch unless asked. Homeowners can help reduce barriers by offering a small donation for a new blower, by allowing their gardener to charge spare batteries at their home, and even reduce blow time by asking their gardener to refrain from blowing mulched or soil beds, which protects the mulch and rich organic topsoil."
When the gas blower ban was announced in 2021, the California Air Resources Board reported that a gardener "using one backpack leaf blower for one hour generates the same smog-forming emissions as a car driving 1,100 miles." Furthermore, unlike the 2016 Toyota Camry used in the comparison, gas blower emissions concentrate in a single property rather than disperse across a 1,000 mile journey.
A study by Erica Walker at the Harvard School of Public Health found that at the point of operation, gas-powered leaf blower models produced over 100 decibels (dBA) of sound. According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, sounds over 85 dBA can damage hearing.
Section 112.04 of the municipal code states, "no gas powered blower shall be used within 500 feet of a residence at anytime. [sic] Both the user of such a blower as well as the individual who contracted for the services of the user, if any, shall be subject to the requirements of and penalty provisions for this ordinance. Violation of the provisions of this subsection shall be punishable as an infraction in an amount not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00)...."
Many leadership members of Resilient Palisades lost their homes in the January 2025 Palisades fire. While they focus on recovery and rebuilding, current and former leadership members like Sheda Morshed and Vicki Warren extend their support and gratitude to any Canyon residents who advance the work of Resilient Palisades in Santa Monica Canyon.
https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/los_angeles/latest/lamc/0-0-0-422835
https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/los_angeles/latest/lamc/0-0-0-193915
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6707732/
https://resilientpalisades.org/greengardens/#1636605607922-23c29a76-8117
https://www.asha.org/public/hearing/loud-noise-dangers/
https://resilientpalisades.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2021_3_4_leaf_blowers.pdf
