What is Sustainable Snow Removal?

When thinking about snow removal in Chicago, IL, it’s only prudent to consider every aspect of the process before you begin. And that includes the snow removal, the associated snow removal products, and how they all affect the environment. Sustainable snow removal is one of those aspects you should also include in your snow removal plans. Everyone on the planet needs to do their part to protect the earth and its resources. And you can do your part by making sure your snow removal plan is working for and not against the environment. But what is sustainable snow removal? That’s what we are here to talk about today.

So let’s get started.

What Is Sustainable Snow Removal?

Sustainable snow removal involves ways to remove snow and ice that are environmentally friendly. This can be done by reducing your impact on the environment when removing snow by avoiding the use of chemicals and other products that adversely affect the environment.

Sustainable snow removal in Chicago, IL begins with education and awareness. Snow removal companies need to educate themselves and their employees about the products being used and how those products will affect the environment, the health of people, animals, and the plant life that is exposed to them.

Why Is Sustainable Snow Removal Important?

Using sustainable snow removal methods is important for many reasons. For example, the chemicals that are used to melt ice and snow will eventually damage the pavement and the buildings where it is used consistently. Additionally, when the snow and ice melt it creates run-off that will also harm the surrounding soil and plant life.

Furthermore, when chloride deicers are used, it makes it more difficult for the soil to retain water and air. Not to mention that snow and ice removal chemicals get into the groundwater and will harm aquatic life and the animals that feed on that aquatic life.

Then there are animals such as deer that actually like the taste of the salt and the salt-like chemicals. Those animals lick the salt substances which could be mixed with other harmful substances that are frequently found on roadways and will make them sick. Additionally, those same animals gravitate to the roadways where these salt-like substances have been placed, which puts them in danger of being hit by oncoming traffic.

So in other words, sustainable snow removal is more important than you would initially think. There’s a much broader scheme of things that occurs when not using sustainable snow removal methods.

The Benefits of Sustainable Snow Removal

Many of the benefits of sustainable snow removal are along the same lines as the reasons using sustainable snow removal methods is so important.

The benefits of sustainable snow removal are as follows.

• Helps preserve the environment.
• Helps prevent the damage that salt and salt-like chemicals do to walkways, driveways, and roadways over time.
• Protects wildlife from ingesting the chemicals that could potentially make them sick when mixed with other road substances or debris. It will also help prevent animals from being hit by oncoming traffic.
• It protects the groundwater from absorbing salt and salt-like chemicals that end up in the surrounding waterways.
• Protects aquatic life from ingesting the salt and salt-like laden chemicals from the ground runoff. That includes the animals that eat the aquatic life that has been poisoned by the contaminated runoff.
• Protects and preserves all plant life from coming in contact with snow and ice melting products.
• Your business's reputation will benefit from being a sustainable snow removal service.

We could keep going, but you get the picture.

Methods of Sustainable Snow Removal

There is a range of effective sustainable snow removal methods. Here are a few of them.

1. Pretreating Surfaces

Pretreat roads and walkable surfaces before they dip below 15°F. This is because applying bulk salt to these surfaces when that surface is colder than 15°F isn’t effective. The result of this is that you use less of the product.

2. Carbohydrate Deicers

Using carbohydrate deicers such as beet juice and cheese brines can be a decent natural alternative to using salt and salt-like chemicals. And while they don’t actually melt ice, they do lower the freezing point of the ice. They also help bulk material stick to the roads more effectively, so you use less of it. This method is frequently used in addition to salt or other de-icing agents, rather than being used instead of them. So it’s not perfect, but it does help.

3. Use Diesel Fuel

Diesel fuel is the most carbon-efficient fuel for our more modern vehicles. Diesel dispels 40% fewer emissions than vehicles that use conventional gasoline.

4. Liquid Deicer Blends

Using liquid deicers and blends means the application will have much less of an impact on the environment than it would if you were using a non-blended chemical deicer. Additionally, when using blended products, your customers will save a significant amount of money versus using a bagged product. And, your customers will find that they are not having to spend money replacing plants, shrubs, trees, and other common area landscaping that was damaged over the winter by repeated chemical deicing treatments.

5. Proper Equipment Calibration

Part of being a sustainable snow removal company means making sure your equipment is properly calibrated. By doing so, you will ensure the amount of salt or other deicing chemicals you are using is being applied in the proper amounts. So you are only using what is absolutely necessary.

The fewer chemicals you apply, the less harm you are doing to the environment.

Teach your team how to properly calculate how much deicer they need to use for each weather event based on the surface’s ambient temperature, as well as the potency of the product they are using. This is just another small step towards protecting our environment.



What’s Next?

If you need a sustainable snow removal service in Chicago, IL, or any of the surrounding areas, please Contact Great Lakes Snow today. We are certified snow and ice professionals (SMIA) and provide reliable snow removal solutions for retail and commercial properties in Chicago, IL, and Northern Illinois. We look forward to serving you.