California's South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) blower exchange program was held July 17-26 in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. AQMD exchanged 1,500 older, high-emission, backpack leaf blowers for new STIHL BR 500 models that feature less emissions and low noise. The BR 500 blower manufactured by STIHL was the only blower that qualified for the program for the second year in a row. The blowers were offered to professional gardeners and landscapers at a deeply discounted price of $200, a $270 savings off the suggested retail price of $470.

"We are very pleased with the overwhelming participation in the program," said William Burke, Ed.D., governing board chairman of the AQMD, the agency sponsoring the leaf blower exchange program. "Gardeners did their part not only for clean air but took an important step in protecting their health by reducing their personal exposure to harmful smog-forming emissions."

Also on hand at the event was Terry Roberts of the California Chapter of the American Lung Association who also thanked the AQMD and STIHL. "We truly live in one of the worst polluted areas of the country and we'd like to thank those involved in these types of programs for their hard work in reducing emissions to help our patients," she said.

Mayor Dennis Yates of Chino, Calif., who also serves on the AQMD as a governing board member, also pointed to STIHL's commitment to the environment saying, "We are very thankful to STIHL for making this event possible. We know there has been a tremendous commitment to lower noise and emissions from the company and as Mayor of one of California's most environmentally sensitive cities, we commend them for their efforts in making our city's air cleaner."

According to a recent AQMD news release, the STIHL BR 500 blower exchanged through AQMD's program is nearly four times cleaner than the states standard established for new blowers and is about 40 times quieter than the average new two-stroke backpack blower.

AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.