9 Eco-Friendly Ways to De-Ice Your Driveway
1. Shovel Snow
Minimize snow and ice by shoveling, and the sooner after snow stops falling, the better. If shoveling is too challenging for you, pay a neighborhood kid a few dollars to help.
2. Go Electric (if you must)
If you prefer to use a snow blower, get an electric model. Gas-powered blowers generate a lot more air and noise pollution
3. Get a Grip
Scatter sand or even birdseed for traction. The grains won’t melt snow or ice, but they will give you more grip on icy surfaces.
4. Scrimp on the De-icer
Remember, the job of a de-icer is to loosen ice from below to make it easier to shovel or plow. Don’t pile on the de-icer thinking you’ll remove the ice completely. You won’t. The recommended application rate for rock salt is around a handful per square yard you treat. Calcium chloride will treat about 3 square yards per handful.
5. Pick Your Salt Carefully
If you do use salt, choose wisely. Sodium chloride (NaCL) may contain cyanide. Calcium chloride (CaCl) is slightly better since less goes farther, but it is still not ideal, since its run-off still increases algae growth, which clogs waterways. Potassium chloride is another salt to avoid. • Whatever you use, keep it away from landscape plants, especially those that are particularly salt-sensitive, like tulip poplars, maples, balsam firs, white pines, hemlock, Norway spruce, dogwood, redbud, rose bushes and spirea bushes.
6. Skip the Kitty Litter or Wood Ashes
Neither melts snow and ice, and they have a tendency to get messy when it warms up.
7. Avoid Products that Contain Nitrogen-Based Urea
They’re more expensive and are not effective once the temperature drops below 20°F. Plus, the application rate for urea during a single deicing is ten times greater than that needed to fertilize the same area of your yard. Remember that the urea you apply to the ground will eventually run off into the street, down the drain, and into lakes and streams.
When a storm hits, time is of the essence. There is a critical window of opportunity during which we must do our job. With snow and ice control being a huge part of our company, we are always the first ones out and on our sites. Being prepared is the key. Storms are tracked in-house using Doppler Radar, making our company an industry leader in snow removal and timing. Because ultimately, timing is everything. These prediction and monitoring skills allows “Nelsons Specialty Services” to efficiently do our job on time every time during that critical window of opportunity
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