Landscaping Equipment Best Practices

The City of Miami Beach is leading the way in addressing the impacts and causes of climate change and taking positive steps to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions.

One step it has taken is transitioning from gas-powered leaf blowers to battery-powered leaf blowers. This transition benefits communities from multiple perspectives, including reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, improving water quality, mitigating noise pollution and promoting operational effectiveness. In addition to utilizing battery-powered landscape equipment, other best landscaping practices can help to decrease air pollution and provide other benefits.

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Local Incentives

American Plumbing and Supply
1735 Alton Rd, Miami Beach, FL 33139
(305) 532-3447
Offer: 10% Discount to customers that purchase electric or battery-powered leaf blowers

Silver Paint & Hardware Supply
1138 Normandy Dr, Miami Beach FL 33141
(305) 686-4827
Offer: 5% Discount to customers that purchase electric or battery-powered leaf blowers

Research Comparing Gas and Electric Leaf Blowers

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the impacts of gas-powered leaf blowers?
Using gas-powered leaf blowers results in several negative impacts, including air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, water quality, and noise pollution.

Leaf blowers release air pollutants such as fine particulate matter. This can impact individuals with respiratory issues and also impacts the surrounding environment. Given the city’s close proximity to water, this also impacts the surrounding water quality. Gas-powered leaf blowers also produce noise pollution. Electric leaf blowers can be up to 28% quieter when compared to 4-stroke gas-powered blowers and 13-18% quieter when compared to 2-stroke gas-powered blowers.
Does the city use gasoline-powered leaf blowers?
The city has transitioned all of its leaf blowers to be electric/battery-powered. A small fleet of gas-powered vehicles is kept for use during emergencies such as hurricanes.
What are the benefits of using battery-powered leaf blowers and other landscaping equipment?

Better for Public Health: Gas-powered blowers produce fumes and fine particulates that aggravate respiratory issues. Battery-powered alternatives avoid these emissions, improving air quality for workers and the public.
Reduced Air Pollution: Battery‑powered equipment eliminates the combustion of gasoline, which reduces the release of harmful pollutants into the air.
Lower Noise Levels: Electric and battery‑powered leaf blowers operate significantly more quietly than gas models, helping reduce neighborhood noise pollution.

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