Friday, January 20, 2017

Five on Friday - Salt Alternatives for Ice

Like many others - we had an ice storm on Monday and Tuesday this week.  I had quite the time trying to walk from the house to the barn.  We really don't like to put out salt because of our paw friends however, with 1/2 - 3/4" of ice, we had to.  This had me thinking on alternative things to use for ice.  These are NOT alternatives for melting the ice, rather for traction and chemical free.  

1.  Bird seed: my sister Lynn actually had this idea.  She discovered this several years ago while trying to walk from her porch to the car.  She saw the bird seed and threw it out on the ice.  The birds loved it.  




2.  Cat liter.  The Department of Transportation lists cat liter as one of the top 5 things to have in your car during winter.  Cat liter has been known to aide many vehicles stuck in snow and on ice.

3.  Sand/gravel: everyone knows this one....but, ash from your fireplace, wood furnace can also be used.

4.  Coffee grounds.  If you compost anyway, put your coffee grounds in a separate bucket during the winter, keep it handy for icy mornings.

5.  Manure: well, it is "green" and manure is "hot" but, be wise using this...manure is slippery too...don't ask me how I know.  I'm more thinking on the chicken coop or horse stall mix, where it is hay, shavings and poop.  If you live in town, I'm sure throwing out manure would be frowned upon, however you could buy a bag of wood shavings.  Clean and unused would be better for you (smile).  

I know some of these sound funny, but keep them in mind the next time you find yourself in an icy spot.  Have a great weekend.

Blessings from Ringle, Wisconsin.

Linked to:  http://lovemademyhome.blogspot.com/2017/01/five-on-friday-linkup-number-7.html

http://monroega.blogspot.com/2017/01/willy-nilly-friday-5-no-115.html


15 comments:

  1. Sawdust (Wood shavings) work well on their own. I used them a few years ago when we had particularly bad snow. Don't think I fancy the manured version!

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  2. The bird seed is a good idea as it will get eaten by the birds and not hang around like the cat lit. I remember once we used an old sheet to lay in front of the wheels to get them over a slippy patch:)

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  3. Some great tips, I don't fancy the manure version. Have a great weekend.

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  4. Great ideas, although not keen on driving around with some manure just in case! I have a bag of cat litter in my winter prep box in my car and I can confirm that it does indeed work very well on slippery ice, even on a hill! It is good and you can just drive away and leave it behind because you will not want to stop if you have been stopped on ice and needed to get free.

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  5. Bird seed sure sounds better than salt.

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  6. Nice post. I have to admit I stick to the de-icing salt but great ideas! Not sure I'd use the manure - does sound slippery!

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  7. Thankfully, we were spared the ice. I prefer not to use manure. lol I'll keep the puppy friendly de-icer on hand.

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  8. Handy reminders for icy roads. I'm with Sharon though, for sure I wouldn't be adding any manure to my city walkways. :)

    Wishing you a lovely weekend,
    Brenda

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  9. Love the idea of the wood chips. We have a lot of clay soil here in NE Texas and the chips will help enrich the soil too. Of course the manure would do that too, but not something I want to have on my walkways. Thanks for the tips!

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  10. Great ideas. We never have enough snow or ice to worry about it, but alternatives to salt are best.

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  11. Great ideas. I'll have to have a go with some bird seed as it feels like you are helping them as well. 🙂

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  12. We had the ice storm up here in Ontario, Canada too. Interesting remedies for the ice.

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  13. These are great ideas to keep in mind the next time ice comes and we are out of the melt stuff. I like the bird seed idea best.

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  14. These are some great ideas...my favorite is the bird seed! I think I would have to try all the rest before trying the manure 😂 thank you for linking and I hope you have had a wonderful week!

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