By: Jason Elyea-Wheeler

As winter settles in and snow returns to our streets it is important to think about our habits when it comes to dealing with seasonal changes. I don’t mean busting out your favorite hotdish to warm you up, or adding some kick to the eggnog, I mean dealing with the build up of ice and snow that covers our driveways and sidewalks. Typically we shovel and salt every traversable part of our properties, but there are more effective and sustainable ways to handle ice and snow than dumping salt on everything thinking it will melt away our problems.

Deicing salt is often over applied, with 365,000 tons of road salt applied in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (TCMA) alone each year. It is vital to our transportation and infrastructure that we have safe roads, however we also know that chloride salt is not a sustainable solution as it wears on our infrastructure every winter. On a neighborhood level, deicing salt doesn’t just wear on our infrastructure, but also on our environment. Just a teaspoon of deicing salt permanently pollutes up to five gallons of water. The runoff of salt is a pollutant that needs to be effectively limited in order to preserve our vital watersheds.

In partnership with Capitol Region Watershed District, the Hamline Midway Coalition is launching the Salt and Snow Initiative as a part of our Midway to Mississippi Campaign that focuses on promoting pollution prevention techniques for neighbors, and protecting our watersheds. For the Salt and Snow Initiative, we are aiming to raise awareness on how to effectively salt your property as well as provide other solutions to combat potentially hazardous ice and snow build up.

It is important to shovel as much as and as early as possible to stop ice from forming beneath compacted snow. Often it is best to shovel early and even during a snowstorm to stop dense snow from compacting. Also, consider using other kinds of shovels to clear snow such as push shovels, scoop shovels, ice chisels, and ice scrapers. 

When ice does form on your property deicing salt can be applied, but should be done so in appropriate amounts. More salt does not equal more melting. Salt should be applied in an even layer with about 1-2 inches between each salt granule. If the ice does persist, or if the temperature is too cold for salt to be effective, try using grit or sand on top of the ice to provide traction without as severe of impacts to our water or infrastructure.

Similar to salt, use traction grit and sand sparingly, as sand can get washed down into storm drains building sediment in our drainage systems and rivers and lakes. When using grit and sand, make sure to sweep it off the ice to reuse it. Traction grit, sand, and other kinds of shovels can be found at your local hardware store. One of the best melting methods is letting the sun do the work for you. If it is a warm sunny day, refrain from throwing salt onto the ice as it will be washed into the storm drain, let the weather take care of it.

HMC asks you to consider trying an alternative solution to deicing salt this winter. Please sign the pledge to simply try one of these alternative methods and report back to us at the end of the season about the impact it had on your property.