Eco-friendly Ice-Melt for our Wintry New England

Use Greener Ice-Melt

Reblogged from the Neponset River Watershed Association blog, originally found on Grist.org.

Common ice-melting products include rock salt (sodium chloride), urea, sand, sand-and-salt mixtures, ashes, kitty litter, calcium chloride, calcium magnesium acetate, magnesium chloride, potassium acetate, and Ice Ban. Mixtures of these products also are used.

Using any of these products has its pros and cons. Some products work better than others at lower temperatures, others are more expensive, some must be frequently applied, and some even make the ground slippery.

Each ice-melting product also impacts the environment differently (i.e., soil, plants, bridges, sidewalks and automobiles). Whereas some products harden the soil and make it too salty for plant growth, others overload it with nutrients or reduce oxygen levels in nearby streams and ponds, endangering animals. Still other products degrade concrete, roadways, bridges and cars.

Learn from Grist.org. Of the “green” ice-melt mixes tested, the productcausing the lease environmental damage contains: Magnesium chloride hexahydrate, calcium chloride (2-3%), potassium chloride (0.5-1%), sodium chloride (0.5-1%).

More information.

How ice-melt chemicals work and associated environmental effects.

Effects of road salt use. More information.

This post is from the Neponset River Watershed Association’s NepRWA Blog. The original post can be found at http://grist.org/article/de-salt-of-the-earth/.