About Gasbusters
GASBUSTERS is a grassroots movement of Toronto residents united in calling for a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers.
Across our neighbourhoods, we are working to restore quiet to our communities, and improve the air we all breathe.
We represent 600+ residents and are supported by 17 residents’ associations and 14 environmental organizations, including the David Suzuki Foundation.
Why this matters
Gas-powered leaf blowers create serious and unnecessary harm.
They produce excessive noise, toxic exhaust emissions, and fine particulate pollution that can affect workers, children, seniors, and anyone nearby. They disrupt neighbourhood life, contribute to climate pollution, and reduce quality of life in our parks, streets, and homes.
The evidence is overwhelming. The health impacts are well documented. Cleaner, quieter alternatives already exist.
Our message is simple:
Toronto can phase out gas-powered leaf blowers and supporting quieter, healthier electric alternatives.
The science is clear. The harm is real. The solution is available.
The Hidden Dangers of Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers
Gas-powered leaf blowers are powered by some of the most polluting small gasoline engines still in widespread use. Every time they are blowing up of leaves, grass, litter or garden debris, they release a toxic mix of harmful air pollutants directly into our neighbourhoods,
These emissions include:
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5): Microscopic particles that penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, increasing the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular disease.
Carbon monoxide: A poisonous gas that reduces the body's ability to carry oxygen, placing added strain on the heart and brain.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs): Chemicals that contribute to smog formation and are associated with cancer and other serious health effects.
Other toxic pollutants: Harmful exhaust contaminants that linger in the air, posing the greatest risks to children, older adults, and people with asthma, heart disease, or other lung conditions.
No one should have to breathe toxic exhaust simply because routine yard work is taking place nearby.
The History of the Leaf Blower
The two-stroke engine at the heart of today’s gas-powered leaf blowers is not modern technology. It dates back nearly 150 years.
In 1878, Scottish engineer Sir Dugald Clerk invented the first successful two-stroke engine. Decades later, this engine design was adapted for agricultural use—not for landscaping, but for spraying pesticides and fungicides. Early gas-powered “mist blowers” and dusters were developed to disperse chemicals across crops, prioritizing power and portability over efficiency or emissions.
By the 1950s and 1960s, users discovered that the same machines could be repurposed to blow leaves and clear debris. This accidental innovation laid the groundwork for the modern leaf blower. The landscaping industry quickly adopted and popularized the tool, and manufacturers modified it into the familiar backpack leaf blower used today.
Two-stroke engines became the industry standard because they are cheap to manufacture, lightweight on the shoulders, and deliver high power-to-weight ratios. But those advantages come with a serious and often overlooked flaw.
A Century-Old Design with Serious Consequences
Two-stroke engines are fuel-inefficient and produce disproportionate greenhouse gas emissions relative to their size. The engines lack a dedicated lubrication system. Instead, oil is mixed directly with gasoline and burned during operation. These engines burn fuel incompletely. This century-old engine design causes 30% or more of the fuel-oil mixture to be expelled unburned as raw exhaust into the air we breathe. The result is the release of toxic gases, fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and smog-forming pollutants.
The Cost to Public Health
Despite these well-documented risks, low-cost, backpack blowers continue to dominate commercial landscaping. Their affordability comes at a steep price to public health.
What began as a tool for spraying chemicals on crops has become a widespread source of urban air pollution—one that modern, zero-emission alternatives can now replace.
Decades of scientific research show that exposure to emissions from gas-powered leaf blowers is harmful to human health. In a city like Toronto, the combined emissions from hundreds of 2-stroke blowers operating daily, releasing pollutant gases and microscopic particles that degrade neighbourhood air quality and increase health risks for landscaping workers, nearby residents, children, seniors, and people with respiratory or cardiovascular conditions..
Although one blower seems minor, landscaping fleets operating daily across Toronto add up significantly. This is one reason many municipalities have started restricting or banning gas-powered leaf blowers.
History of Motions Passed by Toronto City Council.
November 13. 2025 City Council passed a motion
“City Council requests that, when Toronto’s Air Quality Health Index is at high to very high-risk levels (7-10), city operations, businesses and residents refrain whenever possible from operating highly polluting engines, such as two-stroke gas-powered leaf blowers and request the Chief Communications Officer to coordinate the use of the City's various communication channels to get this message to businesses and residents.”
May 21, 2025 City Council made a decision to not ban the use of gas-powered leaf blowers.
“ City Council direct the Executive Director, Environment, Climate and Forestry to report back in 2027 on progress to transition City-owned equipment from 2-stroke engine to electric, as well as an update on the communication campaign to encourage Toronto businesses and residents to choose quieter, zero emission equipment, with such report to include updated jurisdictional scan of other North American jurisdictions that are transitioning their internal operations to zero-emission outdoor power equipment or have enacted community restrictions or bans.”
July 2023 City Council expressed support for the ban “as a precaution against any adverse impacts to human health and climate. “The decision to transition to zero emissions outdoor power equipment was approved (2023.IE5.1) City Staff were instructed to carry out consultations and determine the resources needed to develop and enforce the ban and submit a report to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee in 2024
In 2001—25 years ago—Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Sheela Basrur urged City Council to prohibit gas-powered leaf blowers. City Council voted against it.
What Gasbusters has done.
Gasbusters inspired the City Council motion to stop using two-stroke gas leaf blowers on days when wildfire smoke drives the Air Quality Health Index into the high-risk range (AQHI 7–10).
Deputed numerous times at the Infrastructure & Environment Committee(IEC);Noise Bylaw Review, Municipal Licensing & Standards;:Economic & Community Development Committee; about the harmful noise and pollution from leaf blowers.
Responded to City of Toronto initiatives to achieve the goal of banning the use of gas leaf blowers and related garden equipment.
As an educational resource we provide the public with information and raise awareness about the serious health risks and environmental hazards associated with 2 stroke gas/oil leaf blowers and related garden equipment.
Built broad public support for a ban so the landscape industry has time to transition.
JOIN GASBUSTERS
As awareness of the health risks associated with gas-powered leaf blowers increases, GASBUSTERS relies on your support to grow its membership and strengthen its collective voice.
What You Can Do
Take Action to Support the Ban on Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers and Garden Equipment
Please contact Mayor Chow and point out that as the leader of Canada’s largest city she has a duty to protect residents from extreme noise and pollution. She needs to take action to reduce these harms and safeguard public health.
Email your municipal councillor to show your concern.
CC, Mayor Chow at mayor_chow@toronto.ca and urge her to support a bylaw at Council.
What can I do, I’m only one person? Spread the word to your family, friends, and others in the neighbourhood. By choosing quieter, cleaner alternatives—we all help reduce pollution. Small actions make a real difference, especially for children, seniors, and anyone with asthma or other respiratory conditions.
Share our 2 page handout ( See Resources) to help educate others about the benefits of a ban.
Join our campaign and be part of a growing movement working toward a healthier, more sustainable Toronto.
We’ll keep you updated on progress and let you know how to make your voice heard at City Hall.
This is about being good neighbours.
Join Gasbusters
Change how you care for your lawn.
Leave the leaves
Do we really need blowers on hardscape driveways?
Taking an ecological approach means rethinking our landscaping choices. Blowing away every leaf doesn’t just clear the driveway — it removes valuable habitat for countless creatures. Leaves shelter pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and moths, as well as amphibians, insects, and small mammals like chipmunks.
By reducing the size of your lawn, adding more garden beds, and letting leaves lie where they fall, the need for leaf blowers drops dramatically.
Your neighbours — and the local wildlife — will thank you.
Talk to your landscaper or property manager about changing landscaping methods
Hire lawn care services that use battery-powered lawn care equipment. If you are renting, talk to your property manager about switching from loud gas leaf blowers.
Tell your Councillor you want gas-powered leaf blowers banned
Gasbusters Organizing Committee
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John Watt
John Watt is a fourth-generation Torontonian, living with his family in Deer Park.
John has a passion for the environment and the health and safety of our community. His inspiration is Fred Rogers, host of the children's television show ‘Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.’ John believes, like Fred Rogers, that each one of us has something valuable to bring to their neighbourhood, something that connects them as neighbours.
John joined Dundee Staunton, his neighbour, in starting the "Gasbusters" campaign, aimed at supporting the ban of 2-stroke gasoline-powered gardening equipment in Toronto and eliminating the damaging effects on our health and the environment.
Recently, John received the "Outstanding Neighbour Award" and a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee pin for his work with Gasbusters, recognized for his efforts in fighting climate change and noise pollution to make the lives of neighbours and the community better. "Won't You be My Neighbour"?
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Dundee Staunton
Dundee Staunton is a retired entrepreneur who lives in the Deer Park neighbourhood of Toronto.
Dundee is a Director, Decision Point Research Inc., an international market research firm, Vice-Chair, The Mosaic Institute, a charity which equips communities with tools to dismantle prejudice, and Chapter Chair, Innovators Alliance, a not-for-profit organization that assists CEOs of Ontario-based companies to integrate innovation into their strategic plans.
An advocate of action to improve our environment and living conditions, in 2020 he co-founded Gasbusters with friend and neighbour John Watt to rally residents to work towards a ban of gas-powered leaf blowers because of their noise-producing and polluting properties.
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Harold Smith, B. Arch, MBA, LEED AP
Harold Smith is a retired architect with a strong interest in ecological sustainability.
He passionately advocates for a quieter and more sustainable Toronto and the preservation and protection of Ontario’s natural spaces including the Greenbelt.
Harold is a director of the Lytton Park Residents Organization, past Co-President of the North American Native Plant Society, Life Member of the Bruce Trail Conservancy and member of the Field Botanists of Ontario.
Harold is also deeply committed to a number of other activist organizations including the Toronto Noise Coalition, Cycle Toronto and SCAN,
He enjoys native plant gardening, protecting pollinators, hiking, and playing violin.
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Gail Bebee
Gail Bebee believes in volunteering to help make her community a great place to live.
She has served as President of the Bayview Village Association, her local residents’ association, and is currently a member of the Environment Committee.
Gail is an avid gardener. She has served as President of the North York Garden Club, a volunteer organization that promotes the love of gardening. She is a member of Toronto Master Gardeners and enjoys volunteering her time to provide advice to home gardeners in the Toronto area.
Gail’s science and engineering background - B.Sc. (Honours Biology), M.Eng. (Environmental Engineering), Certified Industrial Hygienist – provides a strong foundation for critically assessing the environment, health, and safety implications of gas-powered lawn care equipment. She volunteered with Gasbusters because she believes that stopping the harm caused by gas powered leaf blowers and other garden equipment will significantly improve the health of our local environment including the plants, animals and people who live here.
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Chris Keating
Chris Keating founded Keating Educational Tours in 1963.. Over the years, thousands of Ontario Grade 8 students have travelled each spring to Quebec City and Ottawa, discovering Canada’s culture and history firsthand.
Today, Chris and his son own Hôtel du Vieux-Québeci n Quebec City. The hotel has earned a 5/5 Green Key rating from the Hotel Association of Canada’s Green Key Eco-Rating Program every year since 2009, reflecting an ongoing commitment to environmental care.
In 2019, after hearing Monty McDonald speak on CBC’s Sunday Edition about the dangers of gas-powered leaf blowers, Chris felt compelled to get involved. He helped bring together Monty McDonald and Harold Smith with co-founders John Watt and Dundee Staunton of GASBUSTERS , supporting a collaborative effort to reduce noise and pollution in communities.
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Monty McDonald P. Eng, MBA
Monty , retired Chemical Engineer, lives in Bayview Village. He had extensive experience in the Petrochemical Industry when many chemicals used and produced were carcinogens. This necessitated complete and costly reengineering of manufacturing and distribution operations to ensure plant workers and the public were not exposed to them. This influenced his role as Chair of The Bayview Village Environment Committee, partnering with Canadian Tire to encourage residents to exchange highly polluting Two Cycle lawn and garden equipment for clean running alternatives. He also teamed up with early Gasbusters in 2019 to encourage Councillor Shelley Carroll to present her first Member’s Motion to ban gas-powered leaf blowers in Toronto..
Monty founded a not-for-profit company of volunteers Vimy Oaks Legacy repatriating descendant trees from acorns gathered in WW1 at Vimy Ridge by a Canadian soldier and planted on his Scarborough farm. In 2018 one hundred and twenty trees were planted back on the Vimy Battlefield in a Centennial Park beside the Canadian Memorial.