Sideswipe: The real meaning of 'fair enough' . . . 1 Jan, 2021 04:00 PM 2 minutes to read Noise pollution An enthusiastic backyard-sweeper writes: "Cycling around a city buzzing with the sounds of summer gardening, I find myself wondering whether the leaf blower (electric or petrol-fuelled) is the most anti-social invention in the history of the world. It replaces a perfect piece of technology (the broom) as old as the caveman; it consumes fossil fuels in its manufacture and operation; its penetrating whine breaks the holiday silence and, to judge by the way I see it used on my rides, it exists for the purpose of making the user's problem (the leaves) someone else's - it seems to be used mainly to blow leaves off the user's land onto his neighbour's or into the gutter."