Use Road Salt Alternatives
Homeowners are often quick to apply road salt to sidewalks and driveways, it’s cheap and it works to melt ice! Unfortunately, there is a dark side to rock salt: it is harmful to pets, erodes paving, and is nonpoint source pollutant to our watershed. Road salt can directly wash into waterways and forested areas through snow melt and rain.
Salt impacts to watershed include:
can infiltrate groundwater, negatively impacting private wells and public supply
damages and kill plants and trees
creates chemical imbalances in water and soil
harms stream organisms and ecosystems
Pavement eroded by excessive salt use.
rock salt alternatives:
Eco-friendly products (from hardware store)
Coffee grinds
Kitty litter (clay)
Beet juice
Pickle juice
Sand
Alternatives may have their own environmental impact but are minimal when implemented on the individual scale and are still better than salt. Unfortunately, a good alternative is not currently available for municipalities.
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