Deice responsibly: Why you shouldn’t oversalt your driveway or sidewalk (and what to do instead)

Snow has returned to the Philadelphia region, and along with it, the white residues on streets and sidewalks that result from the overapplication of deicers such as sodium chloride, or rock salt, as well as more modern salt alternatives.

As an environmental scientist who studies water pollution, I know that much of the excess salt flows into storm drains and ultimately into area streams and rivers.

For example, a citizen science stream monitoring campaign led by the Stroud...