Submitted by Monica Prihoda, Greenwich
“A picture is worth a thousand words.” That is what (Tuesday’s) GFP photograph of four men with gas powered mowers working within feet of each other speaks volumes.
As a Greenwich resident of over 30 years, I am sorely disappointed in the Town Board of Health (BOH) decision to reject the ordinance proposal submitted by Quiet Yards Greenwich (QYG).
The decision to appear to do something by implementing an “educational program” and require landscapers to place “registered stickers” on their vehicles to indicate they are using gas powered blowers is next to doing nothing to protect the health and well being and livelihoods of many of the residents who work from home. More kick the can down the road.
For the Health Dept director to compare power plants and I-95 car emissions to gas powered blowers and minimize the immediate quality of life issues – in our own and neighbors’ backyards impacted by the incessant ROAR of gas blowers going from yard to yard, all day long, every day is like comparing apples to oranges. Or an elephant to a mouse. It doesn’t jive.
It ALL contributes to our daily quality of life and has a negative impact on the ailing environment in which we live. To use that excuse is a weak one at best.
To infer the QYG proposal is frivolous and doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things is short-sighted. How can we teach our kids that everything they do impacts everything when we adults don’t do it?
QYG did their homework and bona fide research with health experts on the negative impact of gas powered leaf blowers on the physical, mental and emotional health on people as well as animals, pollinators and soil. It laid out a plan to help landscapers transition over time in a cost-effective way – better for clients and their own employees and their business.
If you are interested in these health effects, go to the Quiet Yards Greenwich website. It also contains the more than reasonable roll-out plan over several years for landscapers to adjust their methods in a cost effective way. It also presents a list of the landscapers who NOW implement battery powered equipment – and their businesses are thriving as homeowners want to do their part to make their immediate environment and home more livable and enjoyable.
Meanwhile, try to enjoy your backyard and Happy Summer!
Respectfully, Monica Prihoda