He seems to exist in infinite numbers - yes, we are sometimes even downright molested by him: Sand. On the beach, he penetrates every little crack in our clothes, gets stuck everywhere and can't do anything but annoy us in such situations.
Can you imagine that there is not enough sand? Not really - and yet this is exactly the case.
Inspired by two articles I read by chance in some magazine, I had to take a closer look at these connections. And a small axis of my world view shifted in another direction or recalibrated itself: The sand, which is so suspiciously normal for all of us and with which we combine summer sun holiday paradises and relaxation at its finest, has a huge problem.
Although we don't notice it, we are surrounded by a lot of sand every day: It hides in steel beams, in glass, in cosmetics, in toothpaste, paints, plant fertilizers, smartphones, computers, cleaning products, plastics, ATMs and so on. In short: sand is everywhere. Invisible, creeping, it has conquered our lives.
A few examples
- To build a detached house you need 200 tons of sand.
- Construction and industry consume 40 billion tons of sand every year.
- Each German consumes an estimated 2.9 tons of sand per year.
- Besides water, sand is the most consumed economic commodity.
- Sand and gravel together account for 85% of the raw materials mined worldwide.
This enormous consumption does not remain without consequences.
Contrary to the proverb, sand does not exist "like sand on the sea". The very special sand that the (construction) industry is after is limited. So limited that it is now even stolen. Due to various factors, the popular dream and bathing beaches run out of sand and at the same time states such as Singapore continue to grow and are hungry for the coveted raw material. As this is only available to a limited extent in one's own country, it has to be brought in from the surrounding areas and sometimes even from the other end of the world.
Depending on the area, this is done either by suction dredgers that travel around in coastal waters and suck in the sea sand in order to spit it back on land at the desired location and enlarge a selected stretch of beach, or by people. Women, children, men who dive for sand without equipment and at the risk of their lives in order to sell it to rich buyers from abroad. Sand has now become such a coveted commodity that its value has risen exponentially - some people are already talking about "new gold".
In addition to Singapore, which urgently needs to expand its living space in order to escape population collapse, megacities such as Dubai are also in great demand. Here, the consumption of sand breaks all records - the construction boom in the rich city knows no boundaries and demands more and more granular raw materials.
And where demand exceeds supply, it doesn't take long for the Mafia to get there. It's hard to believe and it seems surreal, but the transport of sand is largely illegal and is handled by structures that cannot be traced, which often appear at night - but also blatantly during the day - with excavators, buckets, shovels and a lot of people digging on beach sections all over the world to excavate them. What remains are huge holes in the beach - and a bagged flora and fauna. Where, for example, Singapore got the tons of sand it needed to artificially increase its natural area by 20%, has not yet been sufficiently clarified.
But not only the removal of huge beach sections is a problem: Also the natural new deposit of sand by the transport over rivers is prevented (which is why it comes to the problem of the scarcity of sand on the beaches). For example, dams hold back huge amounts of sand that could be washed from the mountains into the sea and thus to the beaches by the rivers and interrupt the natural cycle of deposition and transport.
Threatened ecosystems
The episode is well known: The sand must be artificially piled up. To do this, it is suctioned off near the coast - and with it numerous sea dwellers. If they do not die immediately through the suction bell, then in the following days and weeks. Because the sand whirled up is above all a problem for coral reefs: Corals are dependent on sun and by sand particle clouds, which swim up to two weeks after the suction process in the water, exactly the light, which the corals need for surviving, is shielded. The result: dead coral reefs. And where there are no corals, there are no other marine life.
But it would be far wrong and ignorant to believe that this only affects countries on the other side of the world. Although Germany is supplied with sand for the next 1000 years due to lucky circumstances in the last ice age (glaciers pushed across the country and carried tons of sand with them, which they left behind when melting), we also have problem children here. One of them is Sylt. This island should not exist anymore today. Since the 1960s, the sought-after destination has had to be kept alive artificially - by sanding it 6 times, 6 months a year. And yet the island is constantly getting smaller so that its disappearance is only a matter of time. This puts it in the company of an estimated 75-95% of the world's disappearing beaches.
And the consequences are not only felt by the animals that live in the sea and on the beaches themselves - the loss of sand has also had drastic effects on us humans. A major problem, caused above all by the theft of sand, is the lack of natural coastal protection: mangrove forests do not find support, are accordingly no longer stable and can no longer withstand falling waves. This became particularly clear in the tsunami disaster in 2004: beach sections that still had this natural protection were hit much weaker than those whose sand was either the victim of thieves or excessive building. Nothing less than human lives are at stake here.
What can we do? There must be an awareness that sand is the second most important raw material for us - right after water. The public must be made aware that sand is not an infinitely available resource. This is the most important step. We must finally understand the everyday as what it is: something special. Something rare. Something threatened. Then we can start to protect it appropriately. Much research is currently being done in this area, but the implementation of the projects is proving difficult because there is still no worldwide regulation of the price of sand. Therefore, the purchase and recycling of sand is still cheaper than using recycling alternatives.
Some of these alternatives would be, for example:
- The use of carbon concrete, which requires a much thinner concrete layer than conventional reinforced concrete for stabilization.
- Recycling slag from waste incineration plants
- The utilization of desert sand. This is too round and smooth for construction purposes and therefore does not provide any support - unlike the sand on the beaches.
- Glass recycling. Here the glass is restored to its original state.
- Building with bamboo fibers
- Production of artificial gravel by shredding garbage (if this is really sustainable and if we would like to hike on plastic beaches is on another page)
- Increased formation of Earthships.
The beginnings for a change in the sand industry are there - and action is urgently needed.
Around 100 million people live within a meter of sea level. Every grain of sand counts. But can we ourselves - similar to plastic avoidance - as private individuals also contribute something to the fact that not so much sand is literally put into the sand anymore? The good answer is yes. The bad news is that we have to change some of the habits we have grown fond of.
- Less author driving
- Repairing instead of buying new ones
- Do not immediately build a new house, if the old can be redeveloped
- Saving energy and electricity overall
- To operate and promote sustainable tourism
So the drama of the sand is one that is staged hidden - but it is an incredibly important and powerful one. Once again the insatiable hunger of mankind for the undefined more, which doesn't stop at anything, becomes apparent and once again the anxious question arises why we - sitting in the train - actually continue as before.
Did you already know about the extent of the sand theft? How do you feel about it?