In a recent Quad City Times article, an attempt to use less salt on the roads in Davenport as a trial during the winter was announced. A neighborhood in Northwest Davenport has been targeted for this method. Judith Lee, City Councilwoman and environmental consultant, brought the pressing issue to the attention of Davenport Public Works recently. It now wants to use less salt on the roads due to the negative environmental impacts. The EPA wans road salt can contaminate drinking water, kill, or endanger wildlife, increase soil erosion, and damage private and public property. Road salt can have corrosive effects on cars, trucks, bridges, and roads. This costs billions of dollars in annual repairs in the US alone. Road salt also infiltrates nearby surface and ground waters, which is concerning considering that Davenport is bordered by the Mississippi River which drains to the Gulf of Mexico. Being so close to a waterway that leads straight to the ocean, we must be responsible in using salt to avoid roadside plant deaths and harm to wildlife like fish, insects, and amphibians. Our salt usage has doubled in the U.S. since 1975; we are using way more salt than is needed to be able to drive on the road.
Not only are towns and cities using too much salt, we also as individual homeowners are using too much on our driveways and sidewalks. No one wants to get an injury from falling on the ice, but there are other methods that do not use salt. Some alternatives to salting are shoveling early and often before snow turns to ice. Another option is using one of the many organic, salt-free and pet-safe deicers on the market today. Calcium Magnesium Acetate in deicers is a much greener alternative to rock salt. Other alternative and natural deicers are alfalfa meal, coffee grounds, and wood ash.
You do not have to stop using salt all together, just use less of it. According to the Department of Environmental Protection in Montgomery County, Maryland, one 12-oz mug holds enough salt to treat a 20-foot driveway or ten sidewalks squares. Another green way to make sure the salt does not end up in our soil and waterways is to sweep and collect any sand, salt or deicer after a snow event and throw it away.
We like to think that only cities need to be making these changes, and yes they are a big part of the problem, but we need to generate a change of attitude at home when it comes to using salt on our driveways and sidewalks. Our soil and waterways deserve this adjustment.