From The Brussels Times, this report on international efforts to move away from hyper-polluting, dangerously noisy, technologically obsolete two-stroke gas-powered blowers. Headline and lead image below:

Here is sample from the story:

The new Flemish government is demanding that 300 Flemish mayors make efforts to replace the use of two-stroke engine leaf-blowers, plant cutters and hedge trimmers, with more environmentally friendly devices, reports Nieuwsblad….
“There are so many disadvantages to two-stroke devices that you cannot describe them as anything other than complete ecological disasters,” said lecturer at Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, Mark Pecqueur.

Congratulations to our friends across the seas.