Cambridge, Massachusetts Bans Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers

Cambridge, Massachusetts has joined a growing list of cities that have banned gas-powered leaf blowers. The city’s ban went into effect over the weekend, and officials noted this move was in the interest of public health and reducing emissions for the environment.

Cambridge first passed the Leaf Blower Ordinance back in December 2023, but the ban took effect starting March 15 to give property owners time to change to alternative equipment. The ban currently applies to private use of leaf blowers, and residents will need to use electric or rechargeable battery-powered leaf blowers rather than gas. The leaf blowers also need to meet sound level requirements in the city’s ordinance to reduce noise pollution.

On March 15, 2026, the ban will extend and begin applying to the use of leaf blowers in professional landscaping as well. The city has compiled a list of businesses that already meet the electric or battery-powered leaf blower requirements, which could be helpful for customers looking for a greener lawn care option.

However, some people have voiced concerns over increasing landscaping costs and lower power from electric models compared to gas. 

Keri Brown, co-owner of R&S Landscaping, one of the companies in the list of compliant businesses, told The Boston Globe that using electric leaf blowers can take about 20% to 50% more time to clear out leaves compared to gas but that this was “a sign of the times,” and “It was going to happen, sooner or later.”

Some landscaping experts also said that residents may need to relax their expectations for picture-perfect landscaping as the city transitions to electric leaf blowers.

“Prices will go up for maintenance in Cambridge if people want the same garden aesthetic that they have,” Catherine Brownlee, managing director of Landscape Collaborative, Inc., another company on the compliant list, told The Boston Globe. “It’s just going to take a lot more time.”

Brownlee told The Boston Globe that some residents of Cambridge have already complained when comparing to lawns that used gas-powered leaf blowers, but a city-wide move to electric leaf blowers could change some minds that are more accepting of less pristine lawns.

To lower the costs for businesses and, by extension, consumers, Massachusetts State Representative Michelle Ciccolo has submitted a petition for a law that would offer tax credits for the purchase of electric landscaping equipment, such as leaf blowers, for small landscaping businesses, Clean Technica reported. 

The proposed legislation would “reduce the business’s tax liability for that year by 40% of the cost of purchasing said low noise, low emissions equipment up to an annual total of no more than ten thousand dollars.”

While the initial cost to transition equipment could be high, Clean Technica reported that the long-term costs could be lower, with daily fuel costs lowering by up to two-thirds when there is no longer a need to buy gas.

According to the government of Cambridge, switching to electric or battery-powered leaf blowers could reduce noise pollution, improve air quality and minimize harms to the environment. The government noted that the noise is disruptive to humans and wildlife, and the stronger airflower from gas-powered leaf blowers can damage topsoil and plants. Further, the emissions from using a gas-powered leaf blower for one hour is nearly equivalent to the emissions from driving a light-duty passenger car for 1,100 miles, according to the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

“I wish the whole state would move to it,” Cambridge City Councilor Patricia Nolan told The Boston Globe. “It makes no sense that we would allow something to continue to be used that’s clearly harmful to wildlife, to the soil, and to plants, and also to public health and worker safety.”

Cambridge is joining many other cities — and the state of California — in enacting bans on gas-powered leaf blowers and other polluting landscaping equipment. As The Associated Press reported, Montclair, New Jersey; Portland, Oregon; Burlington, Vermont; and Evanston, Illinois have passed bans along with Washington, DC and Montgomery County in Maryland.