Be a Smart Salter
Want to help reduce salt pollution? Shovel, Scatter, Sweep.
- Shovel: Clear snow from sidewalks and parking lots before it turns to ice. The more snow you remove, the less salt you’ll have to use – and the more effective it will be!
- Scatter: If you use salt, scatter it so there’s space (about 3 inches) between the grains. A 12 oz coffee mug of salt is enough to treat an entire 20-foot driveway, 10 sidewalk squares, or two parking spaces.
- Sweep: Once the salt has done its job, sweep up the excess so you can reuse it for future storms and prevent it from washing away.
You do not have to feel “the crunch” for salt to do its job.
- Salt lowers the freezing temperature of water so snow and ice can be more easily removed. Putting more salt on a surface does not make snow and ice melt faster or eliminate the need for plowing or shoveling.
Beware of package labels.
- There is no regulation around road salt packaging. Deicers labeled “ecofriendly” or “pet safe” might still contain chloride. Read the product label closely. If there is sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, or potassium chloride, it still contains salt!
Chloride pollution is not just a winter problem.
- Research finds that road salt can continue to pollute streams in the summer, and that aquatic life may be even more sensitive to salt in warmer weather.
Learn More and get involved at www.SaltWatch.org.