Gas leaf blower ban starts January 2026. Help get the word out! (8/20/2025)
It’s time to let everyone in the city know about the upcoming ban on gas leaf blowers, so there are no surprises. We need lots of help sharing notifications about the ordinance in newsletters, emails, and social media, and with homeowners, businesses, property managers, and landscape contractors. Visit Take Action to find and download example notifications, or contact info@quietcleanpdx.org to request copies.
We did it! Portland eliminates gas leaf blowers! (3/15/2024)
On March 13, 2024, the Portland City Council unanimously approved Ordinance 191653 phasing out the use of gas-powered leaf blowers citywide:
- In 2026 and 2027 the devices will only be allowed in the fall, October through December.
- Starting January 1, 2028, gas leaf blowers will be prohibited year-round.
To learn more about this ground-breaking ordinance, see Legislation.
A huge thank you to everyone who helped us achieve this victory. Your ongoing support will be vital to ensure its success. Visit Take Action for important ways to help. And stay connected for further updates via the QCPDX newsletter.
Gas-powered leaf blowers are hazardous to your health!
EXTREME NOISE: Their exceptionally loud noise disrupts community peace and contributes to hearing loss, hypertension, and stress. The noise has a sizeable low-frequency component that penetrates further and affects more people than other sounds at the same decibel level.
DANGEROUS EMISSIONS: Their highly polluting engines emit unburned carcinogens, toxins and fine particulates that increase one’s risk of getting cancer, lung disease, heart disease, dementia, and other serious health conditions.
ENVIRONMENTAL DISRUPTION: Their smog-forming emissions, toxic waste (from spills and discarded equipment), and hurricane-force winds damage soils, destroy ecosystems, and contribute to the climate crisis, directly and indirectly impacting human health.
Please join us in eliminating gas-powered leaf blowers and making our neighborhoods quieter and healthier! Find out more below.
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The Aggressive Ways of the Casual Leaf Blower
“Clean up,” they say, filling the air
with dirt and exhaust. As if
you can more quickly rake in cash
by blowing it into the street.
With all the force — and foresight —
of a tornado. Such logic
flies in everyone’s face, yet passes
for rational self-interest. How
so many ignore it, I don’t know.
It screams out to be heard
from blocks away, even with
the windows closed. And the stereo on.
Verse thanks to Jennifer Martenson