There may be bad side effects, but those roads and sidewalks would be FAR more treacherous without the road salt, no? Do you live in an area where everyone has tire chains? I guess that would make the salt less-needed.

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I always think about all the damage salt does (especially since my job is to fix parking garages - which get destroyed by road salt) but I always wonder how the heck we could live without it because society would come to a screeching halt when snow hits in my area without it. Would love an alternative but it seems far away.