Winter Is Coming! Time to Think Snow Removal

Today is the last day of summer. Don’t shoot the messenger, but like it or not Snow Removal season is fast approaching.

PREVENTION PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN MAKING SNOW REMOVAL GREENER AND LESS EXPENSIVE This week’s blog is the first in a series of useful articles, ‘best of’ tips, and product recommendation articles designed to help you get ready for what The Old Farmer says should be a cold and snowy 2016-2017 winter in Chicago. Who knows, if you’re prepared enough maybe you’ll enjoy the Polar Vortex this year? Or at least have time to shop for good prices on vacation homes in South America…

THE OLD FARMER SAYS BE READY FOR A COLD AND SNOWY 2016-2017 WINTER This Week: Making Winter “Green” An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure –Benjamin Franklin Snow removal is a dirty business. Companies generally run it as an emergency response service with the focus on clearing snow after it has accumulated. This reactive approach to snow removal leads to dumping lots of rock salt and other environmentally damaging materials on top of snow and ice build-up to get rid of it. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that we apply more than 20 million tons of sodium chloride on our roadways every winter. That’s hugely toxic to the environment.

COMMERCIAL AND MUNICIPAL SNOW REMOVAL SERVICES DUMP HUGE AMOUNTS OF ROCK SALT TO CLEAR FALLEN SNOW EACH WINTER. THIS APPROACH IS HUGELY TOXIC TO THE ENVIRONMENT. In Chicago, winter snow and ice are inevitable, but we can approach snow removal safely and in a much more environmentally friendly way by taking a proactive approach.

TURN WINTER GREEN

Here are four ways to turn a white winter ‘greener’. Prevention plays a key role in redefining the snow removal process:

1. Pre-treat surfaces when ice and snow are in the forecast. Keep an eye on the weather. Apply ice melt before a storm hits, so that the snow can’t adhere to the ground. Don’t wait until after the snow has fallen. Pretreating cuts down on the amount of ice melt needed – and wasted. Think snow prevention instead of snow removal.

CHICAGO AND SNOW GO TOGETHER LIKE POLAR AND VORTEX. BE PREPARED WILL AND YOU CAN LEARN TO LOVE WINTER. OR AT LEAST NOT DREAD IT!

1. Use environmentally friendly ice melt instead of rock salt. Cities use rock salt because it’s cheap. But rock salt’s public safety benefits come with ecological drawbacks. Salt is bad for your pets, will kill your grass and plants, is corrosive to cars, and will pollute nearby streams and rivers. A recent scientific study found that 70 percent of the salt applied to roads stays within the region’s watershed. Once it gets there, the contamination is difficult and expensive to remove. 
2. Don’t let the snow build up. Shovel before the snow reaches more than 3″. It’s easier to shovel 3″ of snow three times a day than it is to shovel 9″ of snow all at once. Let Mother Nature help with the grunt work by doing snow removal early in the day. The radiant heat of the sun warms the surface to keep it safe and dry.

WINTER IN CHICAGO CAN BE BEAUTIFUL. WE’LL PROVIDE TIPS TO MAKE HELP YOU ENJOY IT RATHER THAN DREAD IT.

1. Replace asphalt driveways and concrete walkways with permeable surfaces. Permeable pavements allow water to drain through surfaces where it would normally pool. Because there’s no standing water on permeable surfaces, ice doesn’t form in freezing weather. This virtually eliminates the need to apply for deicer. And because the permeable pavement is porous it does not become an impermeable ice block. This means it’s not subject to damage caused by the freeze/thaw cycle. Freeze/thaw damage creates costly repairs every year on asphalt and concrete surfaces.

For more information on Greenwise’s approach to eco-friendly snow clearing, please read this article in Lawn & Landscape magazine: A Green and White Mixture.