Hold the Salt, Please

After cleaning the car, there was a little late falling snow, which didn't do much more than ice up everything. But which really had me thinking maybe I should have treated the sidewalk. But it is so hard to find a de-icing product that is garden and environment safe.

The standard product, rock salt/sodium chloride, is very harsh and corrosive. But it's hard to find products that don't use it. Experts recommend products composed of potassium, magnesium and/or calcium chloride. However, they do put quite a dent in the old wallet, even if you supposedly use less of them. And a lot of supposed "alternative products" are really rock salt in expensive packaging. Which means that you have to be very careful to read the fine print. The general rule of thumb is 90% alternative, and just 10% rock salt, since you can't seems to escape the bugger.