I have never understood leaf blowers. And I am a product and part of suburbia.
They are loud. They run on a gas/oil mixture. They pollute horribly.
And all they do is move some grass clippings back into the grass from the sidewalk or road.
What would happen if they were only used every other week when the grass was getting cut? Would anyone notice the difference? Would your Homeowner Association come knocking at your door?
I do not think anyone would notice for the following reasons:
(1) Most people don’t walk so they never see enough detail to tell if the edge is perfect. (2) Grass is mostly water and dries up and can easily blow away the next day. (3) More people are appalled by the dandelions and crabgrass in your yard more than the scattered grass clippings.
And what is wrong with a broom? I can do a quick and dirty job with an old broom that will pass muster, give me a little exercise and be a lot quieter and cheaper. No capital costs, no gasoline poured out every weekend.
Can you imagine asking all of the landscaping companies to skip leaf blowing? Their gas and employee costs would go down and I doubt any of us would notice the aesthetic difference as well as the cost difference because they would not charge us any less.
Lawns in general are nothing more than a waste of resources. We pour fertilizers to keep unwanted grasses from growing that wind up in the water supply, we use dirty engines to mow them, and of course the ubiquitous leaf blowers.
There are grasses that only grow so high so that mowing can be done more infrequently. And there are alternatives to lawn that look as good too. The problem isn’t leaf blowers. It is this outdated concept of what a beautiful lawn should look like. Which is also indicative of the bigger issue. Our collective unwillingness to change our ways.