Environment
Petition: Salt vs. Sand
As those lovely white rings on our pant cuffs and shoes remind us, Toronto uses huge amounts of salt on its roads and sidewalks each year, salt that runs off into our waterways, rusts our cars, and ruins our footwear. While this week's near-tropical temperatures have rid our fair city of most of its wintery precipitation, colder days are on the way, and with them will return the age-old debate of salt vs. sand.
After Environment Canada's 2001 report on the dangers of road salts to our local ecosystems, the Ontario government claims to have reduced its salt use by 20%. But is this enough?
Laurie Varga, a Toronto communications consultant and community activist, doesn't think so. "I'd never encountered [road salt] until I moved here eight years ago," says Varga, a Calgary native who was surprised by the Tdot's salt-happy ways. Her hometown uses mostly sand and gravel to combat slippery roads, an alternative she feels is much more sound. With that in mind, Varga has posted an online petition asking for a ban on road salts, which she plans to present to Mayor Miller and other city officials.
Sand and gravel pose their own problems, ("Everyone in Alberta has chipped windshields from the pea gravel," she says) but compared to the longterm effects of salt pollution, it seems like a small price to pay.
Photo: drp
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what is done for snow removal and salting etc should move into the sustainable era already. salt is like spraying DDt everywhere.
Gravel and sand may add extra "dirt" that will need to be cleaned up by the city in spring but the extra grit keeps the roads operational. And it doesn't really get that icey here for very long anyway.
Salt is just bad for everything. Plants, trees, animals, cars, shoes, clothes, concrete, wood, etc.
I've lived here all my life, moved to Calgary for six years and came back recently.
The sand/gravel situation in Calgary is a *nightmare*
Crud everywhere, roads don't get plowed, they get crap tossed on top and compacted in all winter (layer after layer), the entire town looks like the Sahara from March to July while the stuff gets cleaned up, destroyed windshields, destroyed vehicle paint, etc. etc.
Add that to the fact that it barely works for traction (I got stuck on snowy streets more times in 6 years in Calgary than 3 decades in Toronto), and you've got a no brainer.
Stick with the salt.
It works.
It's worked for decades.
Believe me, getting rid of the salt is not going to make a lick of difference in the environmental mess we're already in anyway. It'll just make winter that much more unbearable.
I would like to know exactly how much salt we pour onto our streets and sidewalks every year. The figure would probably stun everyone. Sure the city pours salt like the street is a plate of fries, but add to that the average home/small business owner that is worried about liability. The salt ends up in our lake and water table...do we really want to salt our water?
On top of the environmental reasons,the damaged clothing there is the fact that I have to carry my 50 lbd dog when his feet get torn up by excessive salt use. The alternative is to put his boots on. Have you ever tried putting boots on a struggling lab?
Get rid of the F-ing salt or put a dome over the city in the winter...those are our two options.
Let's think of MANDATORY winter tires for a start. Goofs who slip and slip in Calgary, Toronto Montreal or wherever clearly don't appreciate they could be missing something besides the ability to drive in winter.
Sand isn't going to be used in Calgary for too long now that lciamte change is making it less effective. Ploughing is important, but so is accepting we live in a winter climate and not Tennessee. It snows here, get over it, use snow tires, slow down a bit, plough, shovel and repeat.
Using salt is a time bomb of ecosystem disaster since the stuff doesn't decay but merely flows as dissolved salt in groundwater or surface water.
Use no salt on you property is like not using pesticides; the right intelligent and sustainable approach. Now all we need is the city's drivers to take that to heart. ONly then will the City Hall hear the message that we want thenm to use less.
Salt is much worse for the environment than all the gravel.
But before either of those methods are used... I would vote for shoveling. If you remove the snow then when it melts it doesn't turn to ice on the sidewalk.
It seems to me that in many instances homeowners take the easy way out when it comes to their responsibility to keep the sidewalks clear in front of their property by throwing great quantities of salt on the sidewalk rather than getting out their shovels and using a little elbow grease.
The City, to its credit, has greatly reduced salt usage. Its been switching over to a salt brine spray with gets much more effective coverage with lower concentrations of salt.
To be sure, they need to further reduce their use of salt.
Particularly on side streets with no bus routes, gravel or sand would be a good alternative.
However, private contractors are much worse than the City.
When they salted my apartment building parking lot they turned it white, I would get more than .5kg of salt per parking spot.
It was ridiculous. By anyone's definition, gross overkill, literally and figuratively.
I think making it illegal for contractors to mechanically spread rock salt would be a big step forward. But permit them to use the lower contentration brine for now.
Study to see how much better that makes things. Then, if necessary step up to a full ban.
If one could prove that private/public salt had definitively damaged one's property a successful court case could be won. And then the fear of liability would make all the salt droppers run for something else...
The worst salt abuse I've seen so far this winter is definitely by Toronto residents who dump, rather than sprinkle, salt on the sidewalk in front of their homes. I've had to go to great lengths to protect my dog's paws on our daily walks. I'm grateful he only weighs 35 pounds and not 50!
I intend to submit my petition to Mr. Miller before the winter is through so make sure every anti-road salt activist you know signs the petition to get this snow ball rolling.