Never mind what it says on the label:
There is no such thing as an environmentally friendly ice-melt product.
All salt and deicing chemicals harm water quality, plants, wildlife, and infrastructure like sidewalks. You might not know this from browsing the available products at your local hardware store, where the label “environmentally friendly” is liberally applied to product packaging.
In reality, stopping the chronic over-use of salt and deicers is the only way to prevent further damage by these chemicals, which enter our rivers and lakes through storm sewers.
Here’s how you can help:
• Shovel, sweep, and scrape snow away first. Throwing ice-melt products on top of snow won’t help anyone.
• Use less product. Aim for a 3-inch spread between granules. More product does not equal more melting.
• Watch the temperature. Normal salt is only effective down to 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Other salts and chemicals have different temperature ranges. Read your product’s label carefully.
• Use grit for traction. Use traction grit or sand to make the ice less slippery if it’s too cold for your ice-melt product to work.
Go in-depth on the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization snow and ice removal page:
https://www.mwmo.org/.../preventing.../snow-ice-removal/...
Original source can be found here.
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