Addressing Pollution from Gas-Powered Landscaping Equipment

Addressing pollution from gas-powered landscaping equipment is one of the actions in Lake Oswego’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, and has been a consideration for the City Council. Over the past few years, the City has made significant progress in transitioning away from gas-powered equipment in our own operations. In 2021 and 2022, the City Council approved contracts with companies providing all-electric landscaping services for neighborhood parks and right-of-way property maintenance. City departments that own landscaping equipment, including Parks and Recreation and the Fire Department, have been transitioning from gas- to battery-powered equipment when their equipment needs to be replaced. Parks maintenance currently has over 26 pieces of electric landscaping equipment, including leaf blowers, weed eaters, hedge trimmers, chain saws, and mowers.

Lake Oswego currently does not have any regulations restricting the use of gas-powered landscaping equipment by the public. However, the City encourages use of sustainable lawn care practices, including leaving the leaves, limiting pesticide use, and using hand-, electric- or battery-powered tools. You can check out an electric leaf blower from the Library of Things at the Lake Oswego Public Library if you want to try one out.

During their 2024 goal setting process, the City Council directed the Sustainability Advisory Board to study how the City of Portland implements their new regulations phasing out the use of gas-powered leaf blowers in the city starting in 2026, and evaluate options for next steps in Lake Oswego based on the experience of Portland and other similar cities. If you would like to provide input on this topic to the Sustainability Advisory Board, you may join an upcoming meeting to provide public comment, or submit written comments by email to awatson@ci.oswego.or.us.