Editor's Focus: February 2000

I was flipping through a packet of news articles relating to proposed or enacted bans on gasoline-powered blowers and I was struck by a disturbing thought. (Credit, by the way, needs to go to Echo Inc. for the resources it has committed to fighting blower bans on behalf of the industry. Sure, Echo has a vested interest in stopping bans, but so do a number of other manufacturers who have been less visible.) With each passing month, there are new names of cities and newspapers that are covering the issue of blower bans.

Sunnyvale, Calif. Los Angeles, Calif. Palo Alto, Calif. Menlo Park, Calif. But don’t even begin to think this is just a California issue. Danbury, Conn. Olean, N.Y. Corvallis, Ore. Kankakee, Ill.

Whether or not the bans are justifiable isn’t the point I want to address. What I want to say is that if those fighting this battle for the industry end up losing and blower bans start showing up all over the country, then contractors themselves are going to be largely to blame.

Many of the blower enemies out there won’t ever be satisfied as long as gasoline-powered blowers are being used, but many of our opponents can be satisfied by smart blower use on the part of your employees.

Every employee you send out on a maintenance crew has to understand how to use these machines properly and that they can be effective while not on full throttle. A simple five- or 10-minute training presentation at the beginning of the day tomorrow may be all that is necessary. Perhaps you or one of your managers needs to show up unexpectedly on a job and see how the blowers are being used. You do what you have to do so employees don’t plant trees and shrubs incorrectly or install irrigation systems incorrectly because a mistake in these areas will cost your company time and money. The use of blowers is no different.

This message has to be driven home. If you don’t think you need to make sure your employees are using blowers properly, just send one crew out with brooms in the back of the truck instead of blowers and see what that does to your profitability. Now, imagine all of your trucks with brooms instead of blowers. Scary thought, isn’t it?