These Eco-Friendly, Pet Safe Ice Melt Options Are Way Better Than Rock Salt

Looking for eco-friendly, pet safe ice melt?
Read this before you buy!

What’s the best eco-friendly, pet safe ice melt to use around your home?

You’ll see many products advertised as “pet safe” or “eco-friendly” when you look online or at the store.

But (and don’t blame the messenger), these aren’t necessarily safe, or even the best.

That’s because there are no legal standards for what’s either good for your pet or the planet when it comes to ice melt products.

It’s also because most ice melt products contain salt. Even though salt is “natural,” that doesn’t mean it’s safe for the environment or your pet.

I did the research on what IS safest so you don’t have to! What I’ve concluded is:

SKIP ROCK SALT

Just. Say. No. — Magnesium chloride is better, but reducing the need for salt is where to start.

Urea-based ice melt causes problems, too. (more on this below)

THEN…

⇒ Use LESS ice melt — or maybe none at all. (The boot grippers listed below work pretty well, and they’re salt-free!) When it comes to your walk, steps, and driveway, your best bet is to shovel or sweep them clear of snow, since ice melt won’t work on them anyway. If ice forms, use a sharp-edged shovel to break it up so you can push it to the side.

⇒ Choose your product based on the ingredients, not the marketing claims (see the list of what to avoid, below). “Safe” doesn’t mean anything. Neither does “eco-friendly” unless it’s backed up by an independent party (like EPA).

⇒ Wear boots or boot grippers like YakTrax (see below) that give you a lot of traction so you won’t fall.

⇒ Try paw balm and/or pet booties (see some options, below) – yes, booties – for your pet.

⇒ Wipe your pet’s paws when you’re out on a walk and again when you bring it inside.

How Do Rock Salt and Other Salt-Based Products Hurt Your Pet?

Salt crystals can get stuck in between paw pads, causing your pet to limp in pain and discomfort.

Paws can also get chemical burns from prolonged contact with salt.

If your pet tries to lick the salt off, it could injure its mouth and stomach.

How Does Rock Salt Hurt The Planet?

Rock salt is the most common ice melt ingredient. It is nothing more than sodium chloride, which is like table salt, but in bigger pieces.

Rock salt creates environmental problems because it runs off into storm drains and sewers, eventually ending up in streams, rivers and lakes.

High salt concentrations can harm fish by actually drying them out, causing reproductive failure, and increasing the likelihood they’ll get a disease.

In lakes and ponds, reports Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources, salt can settle to the bottom and prevent water from circulating and oxygen from getting to the little critters that normally help keep water healthy and clean.

“Road salt use is a sleeping giant,” says Roger Bannerman, DNR water resources management specialist. “The potential for chloride to damage our water systems is more inevitable than climate change.”

Salt is toxic to plants, too. High chloride concentrations can make it tough for plants to absorb moisture from the soil and cause leaves to brown or even burn.

You know how salt coats your car when you’ve gone through a street that’s used rock salt to melt the ice?

That’s what it can do to the water, your boots, your plants, and your pets.

Is Urea Better?

Many “pet safe” or “eco friendly” ice melts have replaced some or all of their sodium chloride with urea.

Some states don’t allow urea to be used because it is nitrogen-based and as such, works like a fertilizer when it gets on the landscape.

Urea can also overburden waterways if it washes down sewers and runs off into streams and rivers (which it will, since, while it helps melt ice, it doesn’t melt itself).

However, urea won’t burn your pets paws the way a salt-based ice melt will.

What about Magnesium Chloride or Calcium Chloride?

Calcium chloride can melt ice down to -20 degF, so if you live in an area where temperatures regularly drop below zero, this might be the product you need. Like sodium chloride, calcium chloride can harm lawns and other plants if too much is used. It can also cause vomiting and diarrhea in your pet and irritate its paws.

Magnesium chloride (mgCl2) is fast acting and can function below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. It may be coated with a “CMA” powder to add paw protection, which is good, since magnesium chloride can cause gastrointestinal problems in pets. Magnesium chloride is considered to be safer for vegetation and plants. However, it may need to be applied more frequently than either sodium chloride or calcium chloride, which could make it more expensive to use (and which is why using just what you need and not more is key).

Avoid Ethylene Glycol; Propylene Glycol Seems to Be Better

Ethylene glycol-based ice melt contains the same active ingredient as antifreeze, reports Dogs Naturally Magazine, and that can be toxic to your pet. Propylene glycols are safer for dogs, though could pose a risk to cats. If you can find a product that does not also contain urea, go for it. Glycols melt ice at very cold temperatures (in the -20degF to 32 degF) and, though they run off into waterways, they don’t accumulate over the long term.

You can read more about these and a couple of other options in this useful document pulled together by the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Several products are approved under the EPA’s Design for Living standards. If they’re approved by EPA, they’ll have this label on their packaging.

An ice melt product under DfE is one that melts ice and snow at temperatures below the freezing point of water, and not a product that simply aids traction like sand.

To meet EPA’s requirements, an ice melt must show a reduction in sodium and chloride use of at least 30 percent and be less corrosive than sodium chloride, as well.

DfE-certified ice melt:
• Cannot contain cyanide as an anti-caking agent;
• Must function at temperatures less than zero degrees Fahrenheit; and
• Be labeled under a DfE partnership agreement in which the product manufacturer has agreed to a customer education/training plan to ensure proper product use and application and use.

“The primary benefit of a DfE-labeled ice melt is the decrease in sodium and chloride that would be released to the environment during use,” because excesses or imbalances of these chemicals in the environment can be harmful to animal and plant life, an EPA spokesperson says.

Safe Step Pro Enviro is one that’s approved under EPA’s Design for Living standards. The company claims its product will not harm skin and is non-toxic to pets (I have not independently verified the claims, but the company did meet EPA’s standards). The manufacturers also claim that Safe Step will not damage shrubs, grass, vegetation, carpets, floors, leather, or shoes when used as directed.

BOTTOM LINE: Use Less Ice Melt – Or None At All

Before you reach for any ice melting product, reduce the need.

Shovel the snow down to bare pavement. Ice forms underneath snow, so if you get rid of the snow, you’ll minimize how much ice you get.

Let the sun shine. What I’ve noticed is that snow that falls early in the day will often be gone by the end of the day, melted by the sun. Before you rush to throw down ice melt, see if the snow melts.

Toss grainy sand down to aid with traction. Some people use kitty litter or fireplace ashes, but both have a tendency to get gummy rather than provide traction. Use street sand (not sandbox sand, which is too powdery to work well).

Or, try EcoTraction, a noncorrosive volcanic mineral free of chlorides and salts. Toss it down on slippery surfaces instead of sand, ashes, or litter.

Slip these over the soles of your shoes or boots.  You need traction to avoid falling. These Yaktrax Traction Cleats are made of steel coils and elastic bands that let you attach them to your boot or shoe soles and reduce slipping. Use them to walk on snow and ice.

Cooper’s Organic Paw Wax  – Even if you don’t salt your walk, chances are your neighbors might. You can protect your dog’s paws by rubbing them with organic paw wax that won’t bother your pet’s  stomach if it licks the wax off. You can also use the wax to protect paws against hot summer sidewalks. Cooper’s is made from organic coconut oil, beeswax and cocoa butter, with some olive oil added in.

Dog Booties – Let me say for the record that never in all my years of owning dogs did I put booties on their paws. But booties seem to be growing in popularity, and I do have a couple of dog-owning friends who swear by them. So…if you can get your dog to wear them, they might make sense. PAWZ makes these Water-Proof Dog Boots. You can probably find lots of other options online and at pet stores as well.