gravel are the most extracted               The scramble for sand       璆剖?撌交平???€???€??曆誨蝷暹???resources in the world,                and gravel has caused            隤芣撱箇??潭?鞈?銋???accounting for up to 85% of all        unprecedented damage to our
materials mined around the             fragile environment, destroying       ?瘝?撟曆??刻??航?嚗?摰€之
world in one year [1]. Sand is so      wildlife and food webs, eroding  憭?賭??拙??冽?平?券€€?瞍?瘝?significant as an industrial and       habitats and communities,        蝎云撟潘?銝?遣蝭蝙?剁????典?瘝?construction commodity that it is      and creating more pollution      摮??唾蝝漲?航???啗?瘙€撅葉
not an exaggeration to say that        [4]. Global effort is needed to  ?振?舀?鞈???憭扳??€?銝€?葉??our modern society is built on         conserve our lands, and our      ??011??013撟湔??蝙?函?瘞湔野嚗?
sand.                                  future.                          蝢?銝?蝝€?蝙?函???憭?[2]???                                                                        撠?鞈???瘙憓?撠?芸???恣??     Though sand penetrates             ?芣???憪?鈭粹?靘蹂?????                  ?⊥?瘣餃??交撓憓?嚗??憯眾摨???almost all landscapes of our                                            ?芰???啣?嚗蔣?輻??拙?璅?€?[3]??lives, most of it is not suitable for  鞈?靘雁??瘣颯€??券??餅?僑嚗迤
commercial purposes: desert            ?嗅之?暹?敹??行?銝€憭拍撩銋楚瘞氬€???                    ?蝎??游??喲嚗??璆剜迤??sand, for example, is too smooth       ???唳?嚗犖?蕭閬?銝€蝔桃?隡澆像撟喟                ?桐?鈭?唬????靘???餌???for construction uses and the          憟?鞈?嚗??牧韏瑟??喉??€??芣?                瘛瑕??€????日?鈭箏€??文遣蝭嚗?purity of silica in the sand may       ?唾絲瘝??????砍???瘙€??航                ????撱?蝭?????瘛???????隞亥◤ ???嗚€迨
not be up to par. Developing           閬箏?瘝隞亙?瘛⊥偌蝑?鞎渲?皞瘥?銝?               憭??典??砍甇??瘙隞??嚗?憒蝙??countries are among the biggest        ??瘝?皞?€冗?瞍?閫??                蝳?蝔??????遣 ???踹?嚗? ????瘜?瞍?憛?consumers of sand. China, for          雿?葉??敺???鞈?蝻箔???憿?               瘚瑯€?example, used more cement              ????舐?€??喳蔆敶輸?閬?
bet ween 2011 and 2013 than            ?箔?暻潭??蝻箇?銝€憭拙嚗?                         ?漲?⊥?撠????啣?????
the US did in the entire 20th                                           ?芣??憯??勗拿??????拍雯嚗?century [2]. The global demand              瘝?蝷怎銝餉??梁?梁??€?梁?             ??瘥€ 璉???????蝷??€嚗€?????憭???瘙???for the resource has prompted          ?飛撘鈭飢?嚗iO2嚗??梁瘞批?              [4]?????靽風?啣?嚗?霅瑚犖憿?
the rise of unregulated mining,        ??擃??€ 瑽??€?銝?閬???憸典? ??撌函??       撠???which could lead to destruction        ?€憸典???銝哨?頛摹?丹?拇?擐?
of habitats like riverbeds and         瘚仃?敺?頛??箇??唾鋡怎ㄗ蝣???               References ?€???
disruption of biodiversity [3].        蝔桀之撠?瘝????????瘝???               [1] Renuka R. Even Desert City Dubai
                                       蝛雿牧?啣?嚗??敶Ｘ?瘝?嚗敺?     Instead of crushing more          ?瘝???                               Imports Its Sand. This Is Why. BBC (2016).
rocks and mountains, industries                                             Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/
are considering some more eco-              瘝??桀?舀???閬?銝€?典???                 capital/stor y/20160502- even - deser t- cit y-
friendly options, for instance,        瘝寞????准€偌瘜伐?隞亥?蕪蝟餌絞蝑?嚗?                  dubai-imports-its-sand-this-is-why
recycling glass and concrete.          ???梯正?ˊ??€閬????喃葉?                [2] Ana S. How China Used More Cement
However, concrete in buildings         ?勗陘?嗥?鞎湛??摰??飛?餌????                   in 3 Years than the U.S. Did in the Entire
could hardly be recycled unless        ?嗥????Ｘ??€?撖虫?嚗???                    20th Century. The Washington Post
the buildings are torn down, so        ?啣?閬?蝵脤?霅血?閰摯?券???摮貊蜇                     (2015). Retrieved from https://www.
that portion of sand is taken out      ????臬?撾€找蔗?嚗?車?見?予                    washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/
of the recycling cycle almost          ?嗉?皞葉嚗??蝙?券??活?潭偌???                   wp/2015/03/24/how-china-used-more-
permanently. Some companies            ??014撟渡??勗?鈭行??綽?瘝?蝷怎??                  cement-in-3-years-than-the-u-s-did-
are also considering alternatives,     ?函????憭抒?鞈?嚗??函?銝€撟湧?                    in -the - enti re -20th - centu r y/?utm_
such as straw and wood for             ?⊿?擃?85% [1]???航ˊ??                    term=.420a8ad8b60f
house construction, and mud for                                         [3] Joanna S. Why India Has a ?and
                                                                            Mafia?? The Wall Street Journal (2013).
                       reclamation.                                         Retrieved from https://blogs.wsj.com/
                                                                            indiarealtime/2013/08/06/why-india-has-
                                                                            a-sand-mafia/
                                                                        [4] P. Peduzzi, Environ. Dev. 11, 208 (2014).

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