Before we know it, the snow will be falling and plows will be out on the roads spreading salt.Ahead of that, local leaders, contractors and industry experts met in Stowe to discuss new salting practices that can save money and protect the environment. “We can look to different communities or businesses and say, ‘Well, what would work for you?’ And then pick the things that work best for them,” said Kris Stepenuck, extension associate professor. “We’ve seen up to 40% salt savings with the adoption of two or three practices. It isn’t that everybody has to do every single thing. People can select a subset of the sustainable salt practices to be able to minimize salt use.” Some cities, like Winooski, are already trying out some of the new methods.”I’ve already been implementing. It’s just a pre-wet system on the roads. It just helps activate the salt and stops the salt while it’s still crystallized from running into the drains,” said Jason Benjamin, EO3 crew leader for Winooski. “We also built a unit this year to start pretreating sidewalks so you can make the sidewalks safer for the community.”In Hyde Park, they have not only made some changes but are sharing their experience with other places to get them on board.”We started pretty much to save our taxpayers’ money,” said Mark French, the town road commissioner. “Salt prices are going through the roof, as we all know, and we’re helping the environment as we do it. We saw great success, and that’s when we started sharing our stories with surrounding communities.” For Hyde Park and Winooski, it’s been a success. The systems they have implemented use less salt. “Where we’ve been doing it, we’ve cut back our salt usage,” French said. “We’ve cut our salt budget back by 40%, which is great for our taxpayers, from when we first started. For us, I think we in our town have been very happy with the success.”Benjamin said Winooski has found that the salt starts working faster using the new methods. “The activation for us is a big deal. It activates so much quicker. It’s activated before it even hits the ground, so it starts working instantly. For us, that helps out a lot,” said Benjamin. Stepenuck told NBC5 the expectation is not for municipalities to implement every practice, but to choose the ones that work best for them and start using them over time.