This week's major snowfall in the Pacific Northwest has left cities struggling to cope in a region that rarely sees significant snow accumulation. Nowhere more than Seattle, which has its own policy for snow removal on city streets: it doesn't use salt.

Shunning the salt-until-you-can't-salt-anymore approach of most northern U.S. cities that regularly battle snow and ice, Seattle prefers to treat its roadways in an  environmentally friendlier fashion, by using sand and a chemical de-icer applied to streets. The sand is also cheaper than salt.

But many city residents say sand doesn't work as well as salt, especially in the modest amounts the city uses. Sand also comes with its own problems for the local environment --- it runs into waterways, clogs the sewers, causes air pollution, and costs more to clean up. Some winter-bound cities, such as Denver, don't use sand at all to battle snowy streets, while most use it only in combination with salt.

Seattle's anti-salt stance runs counter to Washington state's Department of Transportation policy. Last week, the state used 5,800 tons of salt and 11,500 cubic yards of salt and sand mix, spokesman Travis Phelps told the Seattle Times. By contrast, Seattle used about 6,000 tons of sand on the 1,531 miles of its major arterial streets.

The city even fits its plows with rubber blades, rather than metal ones, to reduce damage to streets. Again, residents say, the approach doesn't work. While it protects manhole covers, the rubber plows don't scrape off the ice.

What this means for the city's 600,000 residents is getting around town is nearly impossible unless you've got an all-wheel drive vehicle, or a front-wheel drive car with chains. Someone needs to remind the Seattle police department, as its patrol cars are rear-wheel drive.  Even with tire chains, one policeman told the Times, officers are avoiding hills and responding on foot.

City officials claim that they've plowed 100% of major city streets, and are working on a second and third pass. But all is not clear for regular vehicular traffic yet. 

Here in Washington, DC, a city that hyperventilates at the faintest mention of winter weather, and oversalts its streets and parking lots to a ridiculous degree, it's refreshing to hear of a more cautious, environmentally-friendlier approach to battling snow streets. But it sounds as if Seattle has some work to do in fine-tuning its alternative approach. Making it so that only SUVs and other bulkier vehicles are necessary to get around doesn't help the overall environmental situation. 

Maybe we could treat snowy days as kids would rather us do, and just stay home.