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A Saskatoon man now living in Vancouver says he was left disappointed in his former hometown after he put up an online petition advocating for a ban on gas-powered leaf-blowers.

Aatash Amir, 29, was born and raised in Saskatoon, but moved to the West Coast to pursue a career in acting and voice-over work.

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He told the StarPhoenix he was inspired to try to curb gas leaf-blower use in his original and adopted home cities after reading studies showing they create a disproportionate amount of pollution.

A widely cited study by California’s Environmental Protection Agency found that running a gas-powered leaf-blower for an hour generated as much smog-causing pollution as driving a 2017 Toyota Camry for 1,100 miles (about 1,770 kilometres), about the distance from Los Angeles to Denver.

The devices have been banned in Washington, D.C. over concerns about their impact on worker health due to emissions of harmful fumes and noise, as well as pollution concerns.