Salt is really powerful when it comes to preventing ice from forming – all you need for a 20-foot driveway is ONE mugful (12 oz) of road salt.
You do not have to feel "the crunch" for salt to do its job. Salt lowers the freezing temperature of water so snow and ice can be more easily removed. Putting more salt on a surface does not make snow and ice melt faster or eliminate the need for plowing or shoveling.
Watch out for deicers labeled as "eco-friendly" or "pet-friendly"! Read the package more closely: If there is chloride in the product (sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium chloride, etc.), it is still a salt!
Start with our template and adapt it for educating YOUR community about the need to reduce salt use!
Use these flyers to educate your neighbors about their home salt use.
Use these flyers to inform local businesses about the impact salt use in parking lots can have on water quality!
Call your city or county Department of Environmental Protection to report high chloride levels or large salt piles (either piles spilled on the road or uncovered stockpiles). Call your Department of Transportation to ask them to apply less salt on the roads.
Property managers, community leaders, and state agencies might not know where to start in curbing salt use in your area. Share the Road Salt Best Practices compiled from our partners already working to reduce salt use in their regions.
Write to your representatives at the state and local level in support of salt reduction and smarter salt use in your community. You can start with our sample letters – but feel free to personalize them to your own perspective!
We'll send you monthly updates on ways you can take action for better water quality in your community.
Your generous gift will fund Salt Watch kits for new volunteers all over the country and help us work towards road salt reduction strategies nationwide.
Salt Watch and Winter Salt Watch are trademarks of the Izaak Walton League of America.