Go Beyond Salt For Landscaping-Safe Walkways

Summary

• Salt melts ice by lowering its freezing temperature, making it easier to clear walkways and roads without accidents.
• Using salt on walkways for deicing has adverse impacts on the environment, including water pollution and soil degradation.
• Sidewalk salt also affects pets' health and can cause corrosion of concrete structures, so consider using alternatives like alcohol, vinegar, baking soda, or sand.

It's that time of the year when many people opt to stay indoors owing to extreme winter conditions. Your movements outdoors are not only made worse by the freezing conditions, but ice and snow on walkways, driveways, garden paths, and other outdoor areas can be dangerous. Such treacherous winter elements tend to cause falls and serious accidents.

That's where melting snow comes into play. Salting walkways is a traditional deicing technique that clears snow and ice on walkways, making it easier for people and vehicles to move without accidents. However, using sidewalk salt on snow has some downsides. But first, it's essential to understand how salt works in ice removal.

How Salt Removes Snow on Walkways

Salt melts ice by lowering its freezing temperature

You have probably used salt on walkways during winter to melt snow and ice. But do you know how it works? Salt, a sodium chloride compound, melts ice by lowering its freezing temperature. It's a simple deicing technique used to keep their walkways and roads safe in winter.

Sodium chloride (table salt) is highly used as a deicer because it is readily available and affordable. Nevertheless, table salt is not the only compound used for melting snow and ice on walkways. Other popular chloride compounds include:

• Calcium chloride
• Potassium Chloride
• Magnesium chloride
• Calcium magnesium acetate

Calcium chloride is the most effective deicing compound because it works at lower temperatures (-25 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to sodium chloride.

What Are the Drawbacks of Using Salt?

Sidewalk salt has a negative effect on walkways, the environment, and pets

What are the drawbacks of using salt on walkways to melt snow and ice? If you've been using salt on snow, you probably view it as a simple yet effective method of clearing snow on your walkways. Salting walkways is effective because it clears ice and snow in about 15 minutes. However, there have always been arguments that using salt on snow has disadvantages.

According to the University of Minnesota, 78 percent of the salt used for melting snow on walkways and driveways ends up in lakes, rivers, and groundwater. Generally, salting walkways has some adverse impacts on the environment that individuals ought to know.

Pets are curious and will ingest melting snow and ice falling on the sidewalks and parking lots. If you use salt on walkways, pets will ingest it with ice, which may lead to vomiting, poor appetite, and increased salivation.

Also, your pets will come into contact with sidewalk salt on their paws as they walk outdoors in winter. Increased salt contact on pet paws causes mild irritation and dry or even cracked paw pads. Overall, salting walkways as a method for deicing has severe impacts on your pet's health.

Use booties for your pet's feet when walking outdoors in winter to eliminate the contact between salt and paws and to keep your furry friends warm.

Using Salt on Walkways Causes Corrosion

Salt can ruin your walkways over time

Salt, especially sodium chloride, commonly used on walkways and roads to melt ice, is corrosive. It mixes with water to form a salt solution, which seeps down into steel reinforcement on concrete walkways. The reaction between salt and steel leads to corrosion.

With time, the chemical reaction between steel and salt weakens steel reinforcements, leading to cracking, spalling, and eventual collapse of concrete walkways. Regular repair of concrete structures is expensive and may hurt your wallet. In the long term, it's more cost-effective to use less damaging alternatives to melt snow and ice.

Use Sidewalk Salt Alternatives For Melting Snow and Ice

Consider less corrosive and environmentally friendly alternatives

Now that you know salt is corrosive, affects your pets, and has adverse environmental impacts, you need to look for other deicing alternatives. According to Pennsylvania State University, there are other practical and sustainable ways of melting ice without hurting your pets or corroding concrete walkways.

Use an ergonomic shovel instead of the traditional shovel when clearing snow and ice from your walkways because it reduces strain, improves comfort, and offers enhanced efficiency to the users.

Use Safer Techniques to Melt Ice this Winter

Using sidewalk salt on walkways harms concrete pathways, pets, and the environment.

So, what are the drawbacks of using salt on walkways? Salting walkways to melt ice is a tradition that has been maintained for many years. It is simple and effective, which means you can walk on your garden pathways without slips and falls in about 15 minutes.

However, using sidewalk salt on walkways harms concrete pathways, pets, and the environment. That's why you should consider other sustainable and practical ice-melting techniques such as alcohol, vinegar, shoveling, and baking soda this winter.