NewCanaanite.com recently received the following letters. Send letters to editor@newcanaanite.com for publication here.
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Dear Editor,
Thank you to the family or group who replaced the bench at the corner of Farm Road and Main St. I have missed it and now a new one is there! Nice place for a break before or after going up or down Farm Road.
Peter Accinno
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As I start to write this it is Saturday morning in mid-December and three gas leaf blowers are going next door.
It is cold so I am being kept indoors today by the temperature outside and not just by the noise and toxic fumes of two-stroke leaf blowers like most Saturdays since early September. None of our neighbors have their leaves blown on the same day. If we are lucky we get a break on Tuesdays.
It is well over a month since the leaves stopped falling so why the weekly blowing? For those of us who do not live where the town collects leaves, the leaves are generally blown into a pile somewhere in the yard but seven days later the wind has inevitably blown some of those leaves back on to the lawn, and so leaf blowing resumes.
A few years ago the Conservation Commission made a proposal that leaf blowing should end in November but that did not get far. Last year, in our neighborhood, it continued until Christmas eve. I am sure I do not need to explain the impact of this activity on air quality and noise pollution, and the planet, let alone the detrimental effect on the health of the workers who operate leaf blowers hour after hour, week after week, but may I share some thoughts on alternative approaches to this, our longest season.
Leave the leaves – A lawn covered with golden leaves looks quite beautiful in the fall and provides cover for insect life that aerates the lawn. Leaf blowers leave the lawn devoid of insect life and organic nutrients the lawn needs.
Mulch the leaves – When all the leaves have fallen and finally lost their fall color, rake the majority of the leaves on to a tarp and haul them to a pile where they can decompose and produce rich organic mulch for spreading on the lawn in the spring. No need to go the transfer station for mulch.
Use a mulching mower – Then mow the lawn one last time with mulching blades to cut up the remaining leaves to be left to decompose and provide nutrients for the lawn during the winter. Lawn are better with nitrogen from leaf mulch rather than chemical fertilizers.
Shrink the lawn – Do you really need all that lawn mowed weekly? Let some of it become a meadow, like some Land Trust properties. Mow with a high setting once a year.
Go electric – Electric mowers and leaf blowers are pretty powerful today and batteries last much longer than even a few years ago. Electric is cheaper, quieter and better for the environment.
Rob Fryer
President – New Canaan Land Trust