Try these more sustainable alternatives to road salt this winter

Berlin (dpa) – De-icing salt might help us make it down the street during the winter without slipping, but it comes at a cost to pavements, trees and pets. For this reason Germany, Austria and other parts of Europe have even moved to ban private use of road salt, even imposing fines in some places. Even if it's still allowed in your area, you should consider a less harmful alternative to help protect trees and pet paws from drying out. "Road salt corrodes roots and impairs the nutrient content of the soil. The salt accumulates in the soil and then interferes with the water absorption of trees all year round," explains Christian Hönig, head of the biodiversity department at the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND). Fortunately, alternatives known as blunt gritting agents can break up ice while providing traction for shoes and tyres. "The point of these gritting agents is to break through smooth surfaces – so that shoes can grip the pavement or tyres can grip the road. In principle, all classic gritting materials are suitable for this," says Hönig. These include sand, gravel, ash, wood shavings or granulate. Choosing the right material Coarser materials like gravel, granulate, or sawdust often stay in place longer, while sand is washed away more quickly, says Hönig. "With coarser gravel, you can be generous so that the individual stones cover the surface of the pavement." If bicycles are also travelling on the path, sand may be the better choice instead of gravel. This is because the bicycle tyre often has more grip with finer grit, "especially as sand is easier to spread over larger areas." Sustainability matters To grit your paths without burdening the environment, you can check for environmental seals on your gritting materials. If you want to pay even more attention to sustainability, you should avoid gritting materials that require energy to produce and long transport routes – such as volcanic rock that has to be extracted. Instead, regional by-products like leftover wood chips, sawdust or ash are ideal. "If there's a sawmill or joinery nearby, you can ask them if they have any leftover wood chips or sawdust," says Hönig. If you're lucky, you might even save money and not even have to pay for the waste product. The only important thing is that the wood used must be untreated – not varnished – to avoid releasing harmful substances into the environment. The same applies to ash: only use ash from your own fireplace so you know the source, Hönig notes. Ice removal tips Gritting is one thing. But the best protection against slipperiness is to remove existing layers of ice. Hot water can help here. However, this is usually only useful in certain areas. "It doesn't automatically eliminate the risk of slipping," says Hönig. In fact, this method even brings risks. "Icy surfaces are particularly dangerous if they only thaw and then form a slippery film of water on them." Ideally, ice and snow should be removed when it has just fallen because the surface often only becomes really slippery when it is compacted under pressure like our footsteps or tyres. The following information is not intended for publication dpa/tmn mod xxde mls coh

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