Northwestern students and staff are looking for greener methods to combat slick sidewalks.
Representatives from Facilities Management and Students for Ecological and Environmental Development said they are exploring potential alternatives to rock salt this winter as a way of preventing damage to the environment from runoff.
Runoff from rock salt causes an increase in water salinity, SEED Co-chair Elisa Redish said.
‘The increase in salinity can negatively affect some different animals, like when runoff gets into the Chicago River,’ the Communication junior said.
Gary Wojtowicz, NU’s director of operations at Facilities Management, said his department uses less harmful products on the sidewalks and bike paths that do not allow for containment and would be more prone to runoff. In these areas, Facilities Management uses a combination of a corn-based chloride product and magnesium chloride. He said these compounds are less corrosive than rock salt and much more environmentally friendly.
‘We have not noticed any environmental harm to the foliage or the grass using this product,’ Wojtowicz said.
He said the most environmentally friendly tactic the school currently employs is the use of shoveling and snowplows, as well as the use of salt where the roads are curved, allowing for containment.
Julia Brook, the Associated Student Government senator for SEED, said there are many other alternatives to salt, but they are not necessarily as safe for pedestrians.
‘One of the things people fail to realize is that a lot of the obvious alternatives are things like sand and gravel and ash,’ the Weinberg senior said. ‘But those things don’t actually de-ice, they just prevent slippage.’
While visiting the University of Colorado at Boulder recently, Brook said she learned the school strictly uses a sand and gravel mix. She said she questions whether such a strategy would be applicable here.
‘In such a high-concentration area like Evanston, where it’s just like all of a sudden overnight it’s completely iced up, that wouldn’t be a feasible solution for us,’ Brook said.
She said the need for salt sometimes outweighs environmental concerns.
In the winter of 2008, the City of Evanston ran out of its salt supply, using more than 8,000 tons due to the extreme conditions. Sidewalks became dangerously slippery as they immediately became covered with ice, Brook said.
‘It’s hard to reconcile the need for something like salt and the environmental impact of it,’ Brook said.
Wojtowicz said Facilities Management is open to new ideas on how best to de-ice campus drives and walking paths. Typically they vary their combination of different compounds because each has a different effectiveness level based on outdoor temperatures.
‘But our number one concern and number one drive is to mechanically clear and de-ice as much as possible,’ Wojtowicz said. ‘That’s our primary thrust.’
Brook said she does not see the effort as a question that needs to be answered but as information that needs to be thoroughly researched and presented to University and city planners.
‘Their biggest concern usually is easy, fast and efficient,’ Brook said. ‘If they were given the opportunity to use something equally as efficient, equally as fast and more environmentally friendly, it wouldn’t be an issue.’ [email protected]
