The state of Maryland is going green in its effort to get rid of the white stuff. The state became the first in the nation to purchase an all-natural road de-icing product, Ice B’Gone, to use in clearing snow and ice from roads during the winter season.

The product was chosen as part of the state’s Smart, Green & Growing initiative. That program brings together state agencies, local governments, businesses and citizens to establish a number of environmental guidelines, including investment in green technologies and restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay. The state is one of the first to set environmental procurement standards and to uphold those standards by choosing a green road de-icer.

The makers of Ice B’Gone, Sears Ecological Applications Co., began research in 1997 that eventually developed into the product in 2001. For the past decade, the company has been hopeful the environmental de-icing technology would become mainstream, especially with its ability to also reduce overall costs, improve road safety and impede corrosion.

“It is much more effective at clearing roads while being less harmful to the environment than untreated chloride salt,” says David Wood, president of SEACO. “We’re excited to see Maryland take progressive steps to becoming an environmentally friendly state in all aspects of procurement.”

Ice B’Gone is the only road de-icer in the country to receive the EPA’s “Design for the Environment” designation, which indicates the product has undergone rigorous testing and has been proven to reduce risk to the environment. The product is all natural and formed from low-molecular-weight carbohydrates, which have shown to work much longer and at significantly lower temperatures than untreated rock salt. Because it works longer and at lower temperatures, Ice B’Gone can drastically reduce the amount of chloride salt used over the course of a winter. With less salt applied to roads, less salt finds its way into watersheds and runoff, thereby reducing the impact road de-icing can have on local water sources. Ice B’Gone also has proven a 70 percent reduction in corrosion to bridges, roadway surfaces, equipment and vehicles, saving governments additional costs in maintaining the roadway and maintenance equipment, according to the product’s developers.

SEACO’s technology has been adopted around the country, particularly in the Northeast, with successful results, but Maryland is one of the first states to purchase the product in a statewide bid for green road de-icers.