Choose Safer De-icing Chemicals

By Lindsey Hodel
Published on December 1, 2003
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Illustration by the MOTHER EARTH NEWS staff
These safer de-icing chemicals are an eco-friendly choice you can make when removing ice from your property.

Physical methods are always better instead of chemicals for de-icing your property. If you must use chemicals we provide a list of safer de-icing chemicals to use around your home.

Choose Safer De-icing Chemicals

Homeowners and street crews use salt and sand on icy sidewalks and roads to make them safer to navigate, mostly because salt and sand are cheap and abundant. But they aren’t good for the environment or for buildings, roads and cars.

Even when used in small amounts, salt will leach into surrounding soil, changing the soil’s composition and making it hard for plants to survive. Salt potentially can contaminate groundwater, too, and it’s highly corrosive to paved surfaces, buildings and cars.

Even though sand is not corrosive, it’s still not a great choice for the environment. If sand is not swept up from roads every spring, it can clog storm drains and cause flooding. When it reaches rivers and lakes, sand buries aquatic floor life, fills in natural habitats and clouds water. Sand also absorbs and carries contaminants like oil and grease into bodies of water.

Fortunately, salt and sand aren’t the only weapons with which to battle icy weather. But, the first step for any homeowner developing a more environmentally friendly snow removal routine is decreasing your use of chemicals, says Malama Chock, a member of the Salt Use Improvement Team at the University of Michigan. The more you use physical methods instead of chemicals, the better.

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