With the blizzards that have recently swept across the East Coast, many families in Princeton are experiencing the wondrous joys of snow. For students, a snow day usually means sledding, building snowmen, and avoiding the roads if we can help it.
Eventually, the weather warms and school starts again. The snow melts into gray slush, which eventually freezes into ice that coats sidewalks and roads. Without proper removal, walks to school or a commute to work can become extremely hazardous.
According to guidelines from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, common methods of clearing ice and snow are ice salt and gas-powered snowblowers. Although these may seem like easy and effective solutions, they pose a hidden threat to the environment.
According to The Conservation Foundation, just a teaspoon of road salt is enough to permanently contaminate five gallons of water. Salt on the road seeps into the ground and erodes the soil. In local bodies of water, higher salinity causes harm to fish, amphibians, and plants. Additionally, gas-powered snowblowers emit carbon dioxide, becoming another source of greenhouse gas that exacerbates climate change. There are alternatives, but individuals are overreliant on these environmentally damaging methods.
One simple alternative is a cheap and accessible mixture of rock salt and water, called brine. Brine can be poured before a storm to stop snow from sticking to the pavement. The solution also melts ice faster compared to road salt, as traditional salt requires contact with liquids in order to activate and thus is slow-acting. As Landmark Landscaping finds, brine contains 75 percent less salt than traditional rock salt. A simple salt solution leads to far less environmental contamination while still serving its purpose.
While using a snowblower is certainly more convenient, we have the option to protect our planet by simply shoveling snow ourselves and avoiding unnecessary pollution of the atmosphere. It can be a pain in the butt, for sure. But if it means protecting the beautiful world around us, a little bit of extra leg work is nothing at all.
The next time you wake to a dusting of snow on your windowsill, mix up some brine and head out to shovel with your family — the local ecosystems thank you.