With rampant reports that the use of road salt to de-ice roads is horrible for American waterways, the AP notes that many municipalities are turning to creative alternatives to salting roads this winter. Among the salt substitutes are beet juice, molasses, beer wasted, pickle brine, and cheese brine (in Wisconsin, natch). But as New Hampshire highway maintenance engineer Caleb Dobbins notes, salternatives are typically a whole lot more expensive than the real thing. “Nobody is finding the silver bullet,” he says.