Next time it snows (this is Minnesota, it will happen whether you want it to or not), take a good look at your coffee cup. The same 12-oz. cup that holds your morning picker-upper can also hold 12 ounces of salt, just the right amount to treat eight or ten sidewalk panels. Any more than that is overkill. That’s the word from the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO), based in Northeast.
• Invest in good snow removal equipment. Plastic shovels are light, but they don’t scrape down to the bare surface of the driveway or sidewalk. Use a push-type shovel with a good metal blade to get down to the asphalt or concrete. Then take a lighter shovel to lift and pile the snow.
• If you use a snowblower, run a shovel over over the cleared area to clean up tracks and remove potential icy bumps.
• Shovel early and often. Don’t wait for the storm to end. Move the snow when it’s light and fluffy, not packed down or, in the case of spring storms, full of meltwater. Try to get out before walkers have a chance to pack it down and make it harder to remove.
• Chopping ice is not just the domain of retired guys. Buy an ice chipper and chop away — it’s kind of fun, even satisfying, to break off big chunks of ice and send them spinning.
• Let the sun work for you. If you get out and shovel as soon as possible, the sun can work throughout the day to warm and dry the sidewalk.
A coffee cup full of salt is all you need to deice ten sidewalk panels. (Mississippi Watershed Management Organization)