Non-Toxic Ways to Melt Ice & Snow

Rock Salt

• Rock salt is a traditional method of ice and snow removal. While rock salt is nontoxic to humans and animals, it can harm certain species of plants if you’re not careful where you spread it. Rock salt also carries the risk of damaging concrete surfaces. Concrete is naturally porous so the melted salt water will permeate the concrete. Also, salt attracts water so the concrete absorbs even more of the melted water than it normally would. Once it refreezes, it can crack your concrete from the inside out. Another drawback to rock salt is that its ability to melt ice can be hampered by severely cold weather. Still, if you’re looking for the most cost effective option and don’t need to clear concrete surfaces, rock salt is a fair choice. Spread it using a hand-held spreader (like an old tin) or a push spreader.

Calcium Chloride

• Calcium chloride pellets bear a similarity to rock salt in texture in application method, but they differ with a range of advantages and disadvantages. Calcium chloride is safer for use on concrete driveways than rock salt because of a difference in chemical makeup. They’ll still cause some damage, but not nearly as much as rock salt since the concrete won't absorb as much water. Calcium chloride pellets are also more plant-friendly. They’ll melt ice even in extreme temperatures, such as negative 20 degrees F. On the down side, calcium chloride can cause severe corrosive damage to metals—including your car, plus the pellets are generally more costly than typical rock salt.

Green Products

• Several companies now produce environmentally friendly, or “green,” snow- and ice-melting products. These products come in various forms, such as pellet-form Propellant-49, which purportedly melts ice more than 10 times faster than rock salt or calcium chloride and has been certified environmentally safe by the American Research and Testing laboratories. These chemicals can also be found in liquid form, such as the Icenator Liquid Deicer. While these green alternatives are environmentally friendly and won’t cause any harms to pets, plants or your driveway, they do have at least one major drawback. In liquid or pellet form, green deicing alternatives come at a much higher cost than rock salt or calcium chloride.