Sustainably Speaking: Importance of using less salt this winter
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV)- We are a month into winter and as you walk the isles at local hardware stores, you see shelves of salt ready to tackle what mother nature has to offer this season. The question remains, are we putting too much salt down, and how much is too much?
Experts at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said in a press release that a 12-ounce cup of salt is enough to clear a 20ft driveway or 10 sidewalk squares. The consequences of putting too much salt down can be detrimental to our environment says Alyssa Reinke, Northeast Wisconsin Stormwater Consortium Coordinator at Fox Wolf Watershed Alliance:
“A lot of times it’s going to impact the smaller organisms which will eventually affect the entire food chain but we are also talking about plants. The salt can actually kill a lot of the vegetation along and in waterways and that leads to increased erosion and dirtier water and less visibility.”
Fox Wolf Watershed Alliance monitors salt chloride levels at 32 stations across the area, where they take four samples a year, starting in the fall as a baseline and later in the spring. On top of their network are more than 50 volunteers who submit water samples, totaling their network to around 80.
The sites of the stations are placed in highly urbanized streams and rivers. This is a strategic approach, as water bodies like Lake Winnebago and Lake Michigan are highly diluted and can’t give an accurate picture.
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Reinke says that over the last few years, they’ve been seeing a fairly typical pattern:
“What we are seeing is this pretty recurring curve of reasonable salt usage, actually some baselines are actually already above the recommended amount that can have impacts on water quality and continues to peak throughout the winter and go back down in spring, and that might not sound bad since its starting low and ending low but those peaks are what’s going to have those large environmental impacts.”
With all that being said, what can we do right on our own driveways and walkways to not contribute to deteriorating urban rivers and streams? First, shoveling early and often and clearing the snow off before it melts is the most preferred choice. If that is not possible, Reinke offers a few other helpful suggestions:
“You can sweep up excess salt and reuse it…we also like to make sure people recognize that most salts that we are putting on our driveways, sidewalks, and roads only work to 15 degrees Fahrenheit. One of our favorite ones to recommend is bird seed because you are feeding the birds while also reducing the risk of a slip and fall. “
