As Minnesota has officially entered the season it’s best known for, local watershed districts are encouraging community members to use a sidewalk salt alternative that can help reduce chloride pollution in the environment.

“Make a simple switch that has the same benefit but doesn’t have the same negative impact on local water, and that’s grit,” Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District communications and engagement program manager Lauren Hazenson said. “Just simple chicken grit.”

Chicken grit is what’s fed to poultry to help them digest their feed. It also can provide traction on your sidewalk or driveway.

To promote their Get Gritty campaign, the Ramsey-Washington Metro, Rice Creek and Coon Creek watershed districts and Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization are partnering with 10 local hardware stores to give free bags of chicken grit to anyone interested in trying a reusable salt alternative this winter. The bags will be available until Jan. 16, Hazenson said.

About 42% of the chloride that enters the environment in Minnesota comes from road salt, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Chloride, which finds its way into groundwater once the ice and snow melts, is harmful to local bodies of water, can kill birds and fish and sicken pets. It negatively impacts the water quality, which includes drinking water, according to Hazenson.

“You think about how much salt people are applying in a given season, and you compound that over 10, 20, 25 years, it starts becoming a real problem,” Hazenson said.

Hazenson said people understand that salt can melt ice, but it doesn’t actually work as well as most probably imagine. When the temperature falls below 15 degrees Fahrenheit, salt becomes ineffective at melting and only adds some traction, she said.

Grit, on the other hand, does not melt ice, but it is an effective traction alternative that is reusable, Hazenson said. Her recommendation is to shovel the snow, use an ice chipper to help remove ice, then lay down the grit. At the end of the season it can be swept up and reused.

Because it does not melt ice, Hazenson said the districts are not recommending that grit be a large-scale solution for local roads, but rather that small businesses, residences and properties try it out instead.

“There’s no limit on the amount of grit that you can put down, and it works incredibly well,” Hazenson said.

Hazenson said many people have been coming out to try the alternative this winter. The districts plan to expand the initiative in the future and give away more free bags.

The free chicken grit is available in St. Paul at Kendall’s Ace Hardware, 840 Payne Ave., and Noll Hardware, 789 Raymond Ave. It’s also available at Frattallone’s Hardware locations in Andover, Arden Hills, Blaine, Circle Pines, Little Canada, Mahtomedi-White Bear Lake, White Bear Lake and Woodbury.

To learn more about Get Gritty and see a map of participating hardware stores, visit getgrittymn.org.

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