With environmental sustainability in mind, many people are looking for environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional products.
For many years salt has been used to melt ice on sidewalks, driveways and public roads however salt is not only hazardous to the environment and animals but also to vehicles, concrete and asphalt surfaces. Salt can harm vegetation and water supplies, it may attract animals to busy and dangerous roadways, burn the paws of pets, leaves salt residue on driveways and sidewalks and rust vehicles and other equipment. The active ingredient in most ice melt products is salt. It can be either sodium chloride, like table salt, or calcium chloride, which will melt ice at lower temperatures and is more harmful to the environment. Often ice melt products will contain both sodium and calcium based salts.
Experimenting with alternative products, it has been found that natural, non-clumping cat litters, such as Special Kitty, WC Cat and Cattitudes, are great eco-friendly substitutes to salt. These products can be sprinkled on driveways and walkways to provide traction in icy conditions. It has also been highly recommended that these products be kept in the trunk of a vehicle while traveling. Not only will a bag of Special Kitty, WC Cat or Cattitudes add weight to the rear of the vehicle to increase traction on ice and snow but it can also be used in the case that the vehicle becomes stuck. In this event, the non-clumping cat litter can be sprinkled under the tires for extra traction.
Special Kitty, WC Cat and Cattitudes cat litters are natural, environmentally friendly alternatives to salt that will not harm vegetation, animals, vehicles, cement or paved surfaces.
**Please Note: do not use clumping cat litter for this purpose, as it becomes slippery when wet and can cause accidents.
Image by katerha