Dear Dot: But What About (Road) Salt?

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Dear Dot,

Can I put salt on my sidewalk or paths to get rid of ice? If not, why not? What alternatives work best?

–Mark, Edgartown

Dear Mark,

Two decades ago, the house Mr. Dot and I bought to raise our Baby Dots came with a concrete swimming pool. We’d never had a pool and, though we hadn’t sought one, we and the three Baby Dots were excited. 

We began by installing a salt-water system to reduce the chemicals required to keep the water swimmable. Over the next few years, however, the concrete bottom of our pool was getting rough enough that the soles of the Baby Dots’ feet became raw. Of course, we should have known that salt corrodes but some of us discover these things the hard way, such as when we use salt to de-ice our walkways, sideways, and roads. What’s more, road salt gets washed into wells, wastewater systems, and our soil, rivers, lakes, and ponds. A recent Boston Globe story tells us that road salt “has killed or endangered wildlife in freshwater ecosystems, with high chloride levels toxic to fish, bugs, and amphibians, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.”

Salt is also tough on paws — our pets’ and other wildlife’s — leading to dryness and cracking, even burning.

So it’s a big, salty “no!” to road salt.

It’s a no that most of the Island towns have already heard. Bluedot reached out to staff at various Island public works departments but didn’t hear back – perhaps they were out de-icing roads? Sheri Caseau, water resource planner with the MV Commission also tried and failed but her understanding is that most use a salt/sand mixture, which reduces the amount of salt. 

Increasingly, towns and cities are turning to brine (yep, the stuff we soak things like pickles in), including the town of Tisbury, which mixes brine with sand. Rhode Island also uses a brine solution. Unfortunately, salt is still the default de-icer in most of the country, consuming 43% of all the salt in the US. Why? Cost. Salt is cheap.

But what can you do? Well, you can take your cue from the brine users and get (or make) some pet-friendly sugar beet brine. Google offers up loads of recipes, along with a de-icing vinegar mixture. 

Some people swear by plain old sand or kitty litter. But whatever you choose, save the salt for cooking!

Sure-footedly, Dot

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