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A celebration officially enacting a ban on gasoline-powered leaf blowers will feature demonstrations of battery-powered models of the devices, along with food, music, activities for kids, and a family bicycle ride on Saturday, November 6, from 10 a.m. to noon in South Pasadena’s Garfield Park.
Billed as Electrify Your Lawn “No Gas South Pas,” the event is part of an effort over the next 11 months to educate independent gardeners and residents about a new ordinance which goes into effect Oct. 1, 2022.
“We’re encouraging everyone to come out and see some of the new battery-powered lawn and garden maintenance equipment replacing gas-powered polluters that are a major contributors of air pollution – nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and particulate matter,” said Michael Cacciotti, the City of South Pasadena’s current mayor pro tem who has served on the City Council since 2001.
Cacciotti, who spearheaded the ban on gas-leaf blowers, is also a longtime board member for the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which offers 75 percent discounts on non-polluting battery-powered leaf blowers, lawnmowers and other tools of the gardening trade.
Joining Cacciotti at the event will be Dan Mabe, founder of the American Green Zone Alliance (AGZA), who will demonstrate an array of battery-powered lawn maintenance equipment, talk about their easy use, and address the health benefits behind them.
State Senator Anthony Portantino, whose district represents South Pasadena, will be on hand, encouraging the public to go electric.
He also plans to join Cacciotti and others in pedaling through the streets of South Pasadena as part of a bike event for all ages. Portantino and the mayor pro tem will meet riders at Stratford Avenue and Grevelia Street, taking participants along a tree-lined mostly flat route through residential neighborhoods in the city. Helmets are required and other cycling safety gear is highly encouraged, say organizers.
Indivdiduals completing a passport after visiting an array of vendors during the event will be eligible to enter a raffle. Among items up for grabs will be a 24-inch cordless hedge trimmer donated by AGZA and a $100 gift card courtesy of Armstrong Gardening Centers.
South Pasadena’s Natural Resources and Environmental Commission was instrumental in approving the ban on gas-powered leaf blowers before gaining unanimous support of the City Council.
While South Pasadena’s City Council has taken efforts for the elimination of gas-powered leaf blowers, a new state law, AB 1346, will place a ban on their sale, along with other tools, which goes into effect in 2024.
“Banning them in our city is long overdue,” said Cacciotti. “The time is now for our residents not to have to listen to these loud machines and not breathe all that polluting air.”
For more information about the “No Gas South Pas” event, call (626) 403-7253. To signup for the bike ride, go to SoPasBikeTrain.eventbrite.com
