Our homes, offices, and many large buildings are constructed by employing sand as a raw material. It is also the most widely used resource, after water. Researchers at the United Nations Environmental Program have revealed that the world is facing a scarcity of sand, and the situation is worrisome because of its demand worldwide. One of the primary reasons for its shortage is the increasing trend of urbanization. Due to this, more sand is consumed than required, according to the estimates. If we just focus on stating the facts, then people nowadays do not realize the importance of sand, and it is being consumed so rapidly and without any leadership control. A geographer at the University of Colorado, Mette Bendixen, has said some useful words for the word to realize the importance of sand. He said, “We should have a monitoring program,” Bendixen argues. “More management is required because it is now not being controlled at all.” “We just know that the more people there are, the more sand we need,” Bendixen explains.
According to Pascal Peduzzi, a program coordinator at UNEP, “In order to achieve sustainable development, we must significantly alter the way we manufacture, build, and consume products, infrastructure, and services.” This has become a “green challenge” for us, and it is high time that we seriously start thinking about the efficient utilization of sand.
It has been discovered that the use of sand globally is 10 times greater than cement, which leads us to the expected conclusion that approximately 40 to 50 billion tons of sand are harnessed annually. To put it another way, we can say that an 88-foot-wide wall can also be built around the globe annually based on its utilization capacity.
Moreover, sand is also useful for animals, plants, and underwater species as well. Sand is also one of the materials that play an important part in the development of urban areas and the industry’s infrastructure. Peduzzi said, “It’s still quite new. Many development programs do not even address the issue of sand: where it comes from, the social and environmental consequences, therefore there is still much work to be done. “
