Al Gore to Speak to Landscape Architects in Oct. 2007

[NJCher]

Here's the link:

http://www.asla.org/land/dirt/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=D68FD2AF-1422-1874-81583469BF0A5E21

I'm going to be writing to Al about my 15-year's worth of research on the damage done to the environment by suburban lawns. This is my pet project. I was a founder of a grassroots group that got the use of leaf blowers banned in the suburban NJ community in which I lived for over 20 years.

If you have thoughts or info you'd like me to send to him, please post it here.

I would like to see leafblowers banned statewide. They are abused here--used for everything from cleaning driveways to gutters. There is never a time one can get away from their maddening blare. I wear earplugs at all times because we are routinely subjected to dangerous levels of noise from these machines.

The fact of the matter is, the current system of property maintenance has got to go. Around here, huge trucks pick up lawn waste and truck it to various composting centers. Vegetative waste should not be trucked around using fossil fuels. It should be composted right on the site it was produced.

It is true some vegetative waste is difficult to recycle. I could see some limited type of pickup for that.

My research shows that the towns in my counties each spend roughly a million a year for leaf pickup. The composting companies used to be delighted to get the free raw materials for their product. Now they are starting to charge. Some towns pay 30k or more to have the composting companies take the leaves.

Now, when you consider that a pile of leaves disintegrates into a few inches in a matter of months, you can see what a waste it is to allow leaves to be pushed to the curb for pickup.

I am sure Al will encourage these guys in environmentally sound practices. I hope I can offer him some research and knowledge to help him make his case.



Cher