Does anyone know of eco-friendly products to melt ice?  I usually try to tough it out, but this year we've already had three days of ice in less than a month, so it's building up and getting too dangerous.

Jeanne, there are a few ice-melt products that claim to be more friendly to the environment but I have not used them myself.  We try hard not to use these products as I think it ruins our driveway and walkways and gets into the soil.  However, living in Massachusetts we do keep a bag of it handy.  There are days when the ice build up is too bad on our driveway and the wheels of the car will spin.  We try to use these products sparingly.

Well, sand wont melt the ice, but it will make treading the ice easier.

We usually throw gravel, sand, or kitty litter (some works better than others).   If we can toss it while the ice is starting to form it works really well b/c it gets stuck in the top layer of the ice and provides really nice traction then.

I don't use salt anymore. I simply put something on the ice to give more traction. I tried clumping kitty litter this winter and during warm weather, it made a clayish mess. Never again.

Instead I will be putting fertilizer on the ice for traction. When the ice melts in the spring, the ferts will help the grass grow.

Don't over-do the fertilizer as a traction method.  It may be good for the garden or lawn, but it can be too much and just as harmful to the environment as the salt.  Actually pelleted fertilizer isn't all that great for the gardens anyway...seek more natural methods of enhancing your soils if you can.

We've moved south to a less than Icy/snowy area, but when we lived in NJ, hubby would pour out non-toxic radiator antifreeze on the concrete in front of the front door and the walk to the drive (not far -- about 5 ft total) at night or when it was snowing/melting and we would reapply regularly and didn't have a big problem we couldn't deal with.  Most times, if ice formed, it was easy to remove but most times it was more slushy than frozen.  Only problem though, boots/shoes need to come off as soon as you enter the door.  You don't want to track that through the house.  Also, this is something that needs reapplication and isn't a dump and look for relief -- it still takes work.  Being non-toxic, it didn't hurt anything.