I have yet to purchase sand to help us get traction as we come down the walk and up the front steps. I’ve been meaning to, but it requires a trip to Home Depot, so I’m neither inclined, nor have I had the time.
I bought a 20-lb bag of potassium salt (I assume its potassium chloride, but I should check). It was the middle of both the price range and the responsibility range of the salts available at my local hardware store.
It was kind of a wussy decision to take the middle road, but I had not done any research before buying the salt, so it seemed the best path at the time. Why should buying salt be any kind of dilemma? Why not just buy the cheapest stuff and be done with it?
Well, there are a few reasons I’m concerned about salting. Here they are in rough order of importance:
- Our walkway is surrounded by flowers and shrubs, I want to use a salt product that will not harm these plants, as they are attractive, I like having greenery and I’m not sure I could replicate this garden on my own at this point, and they undoubtedly ad value to the house.
- Generally I am wary of the effect that spreading so much salt around has on the environment. I’m reluctant to add unnecessarily to any problems caused by salt laden runoff.
- Some salts may be dangerous to pets. To me, this concern is pretty unsubstantiated at this point–is there really a danger to pets? If so, how are pets exposed to salt and how can they be hurt?
- A fourth reason, that does not so much affect us, but I learned in looking into salts is an issue–some products are damaging to concrete and metals.
From some initial research–I found this helpful page on about.com. Note the table at the bottom of the page. It lists eight different ice-melters, notes their chemical composition, and briefly summarizes the pros and cons of each.
The only one noted here as a particular threat to plants, is rock salt–the same chemical composition as table salt. I would not necessarily take this as an endorsement of plant-friendliness of the others, except where it specifically plant-friently. Some are described as fertilizers, even. As far as pets go, this page is not all that helpful.
This page was helpful in outlining risks that salts pose to pets. It seems that the greatest issue is that some products can get caught in pets’ paws if they step in it, and it will irritate them. Further damage can occur to their mouths and digestive systems when they lick the stuff to get it out. Since our cats are indoor-only, the foot thing is not an issue, but I remain mildly concerned that they might ingest it if we track it indoors.
Anyway, I think I’m happy with what we have for now, as it seems like a good match to our needs.
