Friends of the Muskoka Watershed (FOTMW) is kicking off SALTY November: Road Salt Awareness Month, a community-wide effort to help Muskokans reduce their excessive road salt usage.
Each year, thousands of tonnes of road salt are spread on driveways, parking lots, and sidewalks, and it’s often far more than needed. That excess salt doesn’t just melt ice; it makes its way into Muskoka’s lakes, rivers, and entire watershed, hurting the animals that live there. And studies show that about 20 per cent of the salt comes from community sidewalks, driveways and parking lots (It’s not all highways and roads). Individuals using less can have a big impact.
“It’s easy to overdo it, but a little road salt goes a long way,” says Alesha Breckenridge, SALTYMuskoka Project Lead. “One 12-ounce cup of road salt is enough to safely melt ice on ten sidewalk squares or one average driveway. Reducing the amount of road salt protects our waters. Using excessive road salt doesn’t make it safer.”
Twentyfive percent of recreational lakes tested by the District of Muskoka have chloride levels above what is considered safe for aquatic life in our soft waters.
“We know that road salt is the cause of rising chloride levels in our lakes because there are no naturally occurring sources of salt in our watershed. Chloride does not just go away; it can only be diluted or reduced at the source by our community members,” says Breckenridge.
Throughout SALTY November, Friends of the Muskoka Watershed is engaging the entire community. We are asking residents, small business owners, facility managers and others to take action through learning and participation:
• Signing up for our Green Cup Movement – Pick up and register your 12 oz Green Cup so we can measure and celebrate how many people are reducing their road salt use across Muskoka
• Two Free Road Salt in Muskoka Webinars:
Monday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.: Dr. Norman Yan, founder of Friends of the Muskoka Watershed
Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m.: Dr. Neil Hutchison, Board Member, Friends of the Muskoka Watershed
Email [email protected] to sign up and get more information.
• Water sampling public event: Join Dr. Neil Hutchinson on Wednesday, Nov. 26 – more details to follow
• Downtown SALTYPledge Campaign Walk – We visit a few shops to talk about road salt on sidewalks and share our Green Cups and have businesses sign up and earn a window sticker for signing the pledge.
Nov. 13 – Huntsville from 10 a.m. to noon
Nov. 20 Bracebridge 10 a.m. to noon
Gravenhurst 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
• Community Science in Action — Local schools and community volunteers are partnering with FOTMW to test chloride levels in streams and ditches that feed into Muskoka’s lakes.
• Social Media “Salt-Smart” Tips — Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/friendsofthemuskokawatershed/and Facebook facebook.com/friendsofthemuskokawatershedfor weekly SALTYMuskoka tips • Library Information Displays — Find salt-safety tips and information at local libraries across Muskoka.
“Each individual choosing to use less road salt helps make a difference,” says Breckenridge. “When we all use a little less salt, we protect the lakes that define Muskoka.”
From the Friends of the Muskoka Watershed.
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I find commercial establishments and municipalities tend to over salt because they are afraid that if someone slips and is injured they will be sued. Maybe if the law was changed to make it so that a person travelling or being out in winter conditions was responsible for themselves( and couldn’t sue) then we would need less salt.