Comments on an Antwerp website are typical. “Het is een regelrecht schandaal – It’s a downright scandal; er wordt niet gestrooid op fietspaden – cycle lanes are not salted”, complains one resident, who then spoils his rant slightly: “Ben dus verplicht met de auto te gaan werken – So I’m obliged to go to work by car.”

It’s a lovely verb strooien, don’t you think? Perhaps it’s all those vowels in the middle and echoes of the English verb “to strew”, which conjure up images of scattering rose petals. It can also be translated as “sprinkle”, as in suiker strooien – sprinkle sugar. Though I can’t decide how to translate what has been going on in Zwijndrecht in the Netherlands. The headline reads: Strooien met suiker ipv zout – salting with sugar instead of salt (ipv stands for in plaats van – instead of). I suppose it should be sprinkling instead of salting.

At first I thought this a desperate measure to make up for dwindling salt supplies, but no. Apparently de strooiwagens van Zwijndrecht strooien een combinatie van zout en een suikerachtige substantie – the Zwijndrecht gritting lorries sprinkle a combination of salt and a sugar-like substance. It’s a Canadian idea and much more effective than just salt. Snow melts as soon as the sugar-salt hits it.

Another advantage is not surprising: het plakt beter op het wegdek – it sticks better to the road surface. What’s more, de mix is roestwerend en waait minder uit – the mix prevents rust and is carried less on the wind, thus making it more effective. Though I can imagine that pedestrians and cyclists may have the opposite problem of sticking instead of slip-sliding away.

(Another digression. Isn’t waaien a lovely verb too? It has similar charms to strooien; all those vowels and the connection with the English to waft, which suggests gentle breezes.)

All this road salt costs money, which some consider a waste: dat is uw en mijn geld op straat smijten – that’s your and my money they are throwing on the streets. Others reason differently: liever wat geld “op straat” dan achteraf betalen voor blik en andere schade – rather some money “on the street” than later paying for dents and other damage.

As we are supposed to keep the pavement in front of the house free of snow and ice, I think I will dig out those sachets of sugar that are lying about in the kitchen and put them to good use.