Burning Leaves is Bad News

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Remember the smell of burning fall leaves wafting through the air? Good memories, indeed, but best that they remain just memories. Burning leaves is bad news. This practice is now illegal – or at least highly discouraged – in most areas.

Remember the smell of burning fall leaves wafting through the air? Good memories, indeed, but best that they remain just memories. Burning leaves is bad news.

This practice is now illegal – or at least highly discouraged – in most areas. Burning leaves releases airborne particulates like dust and soot, mold, and other allergens that were tamped down with rain and decomposition. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): "the total health, financial, and environmental costs of leaf-burning can be quite high. These costs include higher incidences of health problems and increased heath care costs; forest fires and property loss and need for increased fire protection; and the clean-up costs associated with soiling of personal property.": So basically, burning leaves is an environmental no-no.

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Leaf blowers, especially gas powered ones, are also a bad idea, at least if you care at all about the environment, your pocketbook or your neighbors’ sanity. Nearly 2.5 million of those gas-guzzling gadgets will be sold this year, according to U.S News, and in a single year they will emit as much pollution as 80 cars. Speaking of pollution, the noise pollution created by leaf-blowers has caused many communities to ban them with noise levels exceeding 70 decibels. Leaf-blowers can be as bad for your health as they are for the environment. They circulate mold, allergens and particulate matter that irritate the lungs – especially for those who suffer from asthma.

A better solution is the rake and mulcher. By turning your leaves into mulch and spreading them over your lawn and garden you can improve the soil quality, fertilize your lawn and protect your garden from the upcoming frigid winter weather. There are a variety of green mulchers to choose from as well. Mulching fallen leaves is the greenest and healthiest way to get rid of fall foliage while you rake in the benefits of your new organic mulch.

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