A New Way To Fight Icy Sidewalks And Keep Your Family Healthy!
Living in Illinois in the winter can be a mess. From rain to ice to snow, we usually salt our driveways and sidewalks so that we don’t take a tumble and end up at the chiropractor. You usually throw the stuff down, it does the trick and you need not worry, right? Wrong!
Experts have long known that those little sodium chloride pellets pose dangers, especially to children and pets. Salt-based ice melts can irritate the eyes, and accidentally ingesting them can cause stomachaches and kidney damage. Direct contact with skin (usually from bringing the pellets in on the soles of your shoes, depositing them on the floor where little ones play) can lead to dermatitis, a blistered swollen rash. Dogs or cats can develop severe burns between their paw pads from salt and when they lick them to relieve the soreness, the chemical can make them vomit and become dehydrated. Road salt, from our friendly neighborhood snowplow may also contaminate groundwater, kill plants, burn grass and poison birds.
The safer way to go is with sand, or kitty litter. You may also consider Safe Paw (www.safepaw.com) a no-salt chemical recommended by environmental advocates that’s designed to stay clear of the water supply.
Let’s also remember to keep all the winter de-icers in a sealed container up on a high shelf out of the reach of children and animals.
Let’s have a safe and healthy New Year!