Can anyone tell the difference between leaf blowers and large robotic mosquitoes? I mean aside from obvious things like one actually exists and the other is frequently airborne (in theory). I'm guessing the two would be about equally effective in putting leaves and clippings into piles. I've only ever seen the former used for dispersing, not gathering up, and the dispersing is as often done toward as away from the street.
These days I pretty much limit my use of my (electric, and pretty quiet) leaf blower to cooling myself down when I get overheated while working outside in the summer. That, and to entertain the grandkids.
I so wish there was a "like" button for your post, schroed.
Electric ones are quieter, and better for the environment. Probably the battery ones even more so. Maybe a good way to go about this is to buy one and lend it to the person using the gas one. Not that I really see that working, unless you are somewhat close (physically and personally) to that person. But, the people most often using them are part of a lawn service, not the owner of the house, so guilting them into using something else or by sweeping yourself will not likely have an effect. I still second the lawn mower bag and sweeping just the sidewalk trimmings back into the grass, where they will more likely stay put, rather than blowing them down the street, where they will end up somewhere else.
I don't understand why you couldn't tell a lawn service person, "I got this" when it comes to sweeping up yard clippings in front of or near your house. They make look at you crazy but it would eliminate the issues one has with the operation of said leaf blower. It would also be a good faith step in a genuine effort to halt leaf blower usage.
This is the perfect opportunity for all the kids running around with time on their hands. If every block could just hire a few kids on their street to be in charge of sweeping, our neighborhood would sparkle.
Of course, the leafblowers would be much quieter than my kids, but hey, I think it would be fun. Seriously, I'm going to talk to my block about seeing if they would opt out of leaf blowing (most people have someone else do their lawn) and chip in for sweeping services.