How Sand Mining Is Quietly Creating A Major Global Environmental Crisis | Forbes

[@Forbes]

Clarification: In the introduction of this piece we mention that sand is a key ingredient in cement, the material used to bind the aggregate together and form concrete. While silica sand is used to make cement in the form of silica fume, the amount of sand used in this process is small in comparison to the amount of silica sand used as the aggregate. We intended to say that “Sand is a key ingredient in concrete,” as sand makes up around 80% of the volume of concrete as an aggregate.

[@damnjustassignmeone]

Thanks. Great job on this btw. Very interesting.

[@boertje]

just like the pyramids, nice.

[@russellchampagne3830]

“The problem is dessert sands are too rounded” Well couldn’t you increase the surface area of the sand to a more jagged edge by etching the sand? Submerge silica sand in a pool of vinegar, drain/neutralize/wash/dry - That’s literally an idea off the top of my head that could solve this issue. We got this mad scientist over here trying to make bacteria glue…

[@thein1990]

Don’t forget about your glass also

[@fariseudoagreste]

I'm an engineer and I work with construction in Brazil. sand is used a lot in concrete here too, but for many years we have had the alternative of using stone dust instead of sand. This stone dust comes from the mines where gravel is extracted. and with regard to the quality of the resulting concrete, it surpasses sand

[@Kreativtsinne]

Exactly, im not worried, and you can melt and crush desert sand to get it too

[@Ann_niana]

People in indonesia mainly use volcanic sand (has grey color). There's a lot of volcano here, every time volcano erupt, it's like blessing in disguise. But i'm wondering if its as good as river sand. Sorry for my english.

[@Feelthefx]

The energy that went into crushing the rock makes it more expensive and environmentally hazardous

[@fariseudoagreste]

​@@Feelthefx All I can tell is that stone dust here is cheaper than sand

[@seanow8180]

@@Feelthefx as opposed to dredging which is also expensive and destroying ecosystems?

[@headhonchotheone9041]

The world is such a depressing place .

[@danielrobertson4811]

Wait until we finally do run out of sand…death from despair will increase MEASURABLY

[@mellomilky8621]

I'm so glad that I'm living in developed country. Can't risk living poorly and resourceless

[@williammain3247]

It feels like we are running out of everything except humans.

[@chrissebastian7330]

It's really good you guys making video about this important issue, usually we're only concerned about CO2 emissions and global warming , this is also a huge threat that could destroy the environment.

[@thijsvn8127]

Frankly, cement production is also creating huge carbon emissions.

[@benreuter2326]

Some places are turning to their stockpiles of recyclable glass and crushing it to use in concrete. (New glass can be made from desert sand, which isn't as scarce)

[@lancemc1977]

Are you sure about that?

[@christianduval9067]

Here in Canada, all concrete residut is reuse for the new construction, also road ...... You forget to mention that in the reportage......reuse

[@justinworkman9980]

I live in Florida and we have plenty

[@skunkjobb]

In Sweden, we were used to just digging up easily accessible sand that was deposited in mountainlike formation formed when the last ice age ended. This sand is now largely gone (used up) and is to some extent replaced by crushed rock. Much of the natural sand deposits have to be left untouched since they are important for the ground water.

[@ALauzPau]

Great video, bravo! However, sand is a key ingredient in concrete, not cement. To put it simply, concrete is made with three ingredients: water (15-20%), cement (10-15%), and aggregates (60-75%). Aggregate is the construction industry's term for sand (fine aggregates) and gravel (coarse aggregates). When mixed together, the water and cement form a paste that binds the aggregates together, and this process creates concrete. Cement also requires sand (silica) in its own mixture, however, the quantities used are nowhere near what is required for concrete production.

[@astemet]

sounds about right

[@pedrolopes3542]

"cement 10% lol I wouldn't want to get anywhere near a construction made by you!

[@ChandanYadav-op1pl]

@@pedrolopes3542 you need to learn the basics of concrete technology. - from a civil engineer

[@pedrolopes3542]

@@ChandanYadav-op1pl I think you should follow your own advice and study the ISO 22965-2 :2007. The minimum amount of Portland cement allowed is 280kg per cubic meter which is roughly 18% in volume (1500 kilos of cement would be approximately 1 cubic meter). The fact that you could be a civil engineer is dreadful, makes my spine shiver to think that you could be responsible for mixing the concrete used to make bridges, tunnels, tall buildings, etc.

[@ChandanYadav-op1pl]

@@pedrolopes3542 Dude ,we do mix design from IS code IS 10262. And we choose minimum amount of cement form IS 456 depending upon the environment conditions. For example for moderate conditions we take cement as 300 kg/m3. And specific gravity of cement is 3.15 so if we get the volume of cement it would be 300/3.15= 95 liter per cubic metre. And max amount of cement is permissible for 450 kg/m3 which would take approximately 142 liter per cubic metre. There percentage would be in the range of 9.5 %to 14.2 %. And depending upon water cement ratio we decide the amount of water. Water cement ratio range from 0.40 to 0.55, so for example mild environmental exposure conditions we take water cement ratio as 0.55 and cement as 300 kg/m3 . Then amount of water is 165 liter per cubic metre which is approximately 16.5% . Only thing you need to shudder for is your arrogance.

[@happyhornpout]

So glad Forbes made this! I never realized there was a sand shortage. This is not the first video I have watched about this subject. Sand is valuable now🎉

[@nadzach]

I grew up thinking sand was everywhere. Here in Southern New Jersey, our town sat in the midst of Port Elizabeth. Port Norris and Dividing Creek silica sand plants. We probably had about five major glass factories and numerous trucking companies. After working with the sand for about 30 years, a mask was issued to my dad. We even had a neighbor with a property large enough for a little plant of his own. I recall different categories of sand and also gravel. Maybe it's because of the many streams that seamed to run everywhere into the rivers and then to the bay. I suspect all of south Jersey was once under water. We had a couple of concrete companies, but those along with glass plants are gone. So now there is no silica in the air, but the discarded plastic has more than replaced it. Dont think for one minute that the massive amount of plastic is recycled. Nearly ALL of our used glass was recycled

[@abhilashkrishnan2025]

Read somewhere that it requires 1.5 tons of sand to create one cubic metre of glass. If this is true then we need to at least stop using some products like glass cooktops and instead use steel cooktops. Likewise for other products.

[@zaibishkhan7600]

We are manufacturers of manufactured sand. It does not harm the environment and is a sustainable alternative to natural sand. Manufactured sand is made by crushing rock and then screening it to the desired size. It is an environmentally friendly and cost-effective alternative to natural sand and is ideal for use in construction, landscaping, and industrial applications.

[@emilfalk4164]

I can't imagine that manufactured sand to be cost-effective compared to natural sand. Not in a million years. I mean, manufactured sand must have many more - expensive steps - that regular sand. Right? Or am I missing something?

[@dronepower4014]

actually it's the river sand which is rounded and smooth and it is thanks to this property that it requires less water for workability when incorporated into concrete

[@forcesightknight]

I got tons and tons of sand. Will trade for a backhoe

[@MichaelSkinner-e9j]

I understand there are a lot of alternatives to sand, but one of the problems is people don’t care about the ocean or sea life. Many species of diatoms, sponges m, and corals incorporate silicon into their skeletons. Besides calcium and magnesium. We need to take care of our oceans, and the sea life, which believe it or not most of their skeletons incorporate that silicon and ends up creating some of the very stuff we use. We are manipulating the ocean floor and the environment, without regard to the proper cycle of life. That will undoubtedly have negative affects on the cycle, and that will impact construction down the road. Whether they know it or not, or care or not

[@kiloton1920]

I saw a film on this exact subject years ago. I guess nothing has changed.

[@Greasyspleen]

Yes, I seem to recall it had very similar non-descript xylophone music.

[@danielrobertson4811]

Yeah… still the same nightmare sand apocalypse coming to kill us all

[@74amodel]

Concrete concrete concrete NOT CEMENT

[@Aoudhubillahi]

Why don't you mine sand in the Sahara Desert?

[@charleswomack2166]

Can't sand be simply replaced by crushing large rocks? In theory at least.

[@midaszay213]

In my toothpaste one of the inactive ingredient is hydrated silica which is a form of silicon dioxide(sand)

[@anaveragepondturtle886]

I didn’t see any mention of using brick , stone , wood or any other locally sourced materials as substitutes when you can. I understand these aren’t usually the most economic options but investing in things like automatic brick layers sounds more like a compelling solution to less sand intensive, environmentally friendlier and cost effective construction methods than Bio-cement. I mean what are the industry logistics of something like Bio-Cement going to look like? I’ve heard of many novel ideas to solve our problems but I’ve been consistently disappointed when all the substance for these ideas are just tests in labs and theoretical applications and not real world examples of use and real potential for scale. I have the impression than trying to replace a material that encouraged our bad habits of development with one that theoretically can isn’t the step we need. This can be like Reduce, Reuse, Recycle where it’s obvious now the first two are the more important then recycling Regime has been a massive failure due to the stubbornness not to adjust to a less wasteful lifestyle.

[@bossRussia76900]

To add to alternative materials, there was no mention of new emerging technologies like Cross laminated timber (CLT) as used in Scandinavia, a very sustainable and proven building material for new age skyscrapers. Another material that can be considered is hempcrete, a material derived from hemp fibers, also extremely sustainable, I'm quite surprised that the folks from Colorado did not mention this.

[@danielrobertson4811]

You think Big Sand and Big Dredging will allow KZbin to publish the truth about Bio Concrete? These guys are all in the back pocket of the alluvial silica industrial complex

[@TheSmreeder]

I just read an article a few weeks ago about using ground hemp stalks as aggregate and it would replace about 60% of the sand needed for each batch of Cement... also it could be used in asphalt replacing nearly 90% of the sand in Paving operation ...do you have any thoughts or knowledge in this? Thank You and Many Blessings , SMR

[@flakgun153]

Lol you see these people talking about how we're running out of sand? Yeah. We ran out of slay for bricks a long long long time ago.

[@TheSmreeder]

@Free T Well then your life is pretty restricted... I have lived on brick roads and I have driven on wood roads in Utah and Colorado... just outside of Tincup Colorado there is a wooden road I drove on 3 yrs ago

[@zettavilla]

Ask a Indian from tamilnadu sand usage is banned and those who can get it illegally it's super expensive

[@surendersingal9122]

Thank you for educating us about the use of sand n violence behind it. Please continue this guidance so we can leave peaceful world for our children. J surender singsl

[@mrantssfpv]

I would love to see citations

[@rogerthatone8474]

Why can't we crush rock to make sand???

[@Unknownn37]

I want a summary for the video Who can help me please 🙏🏻 ?

[@FabRoy]

poor audio quality

[@kayishmael6596]

Okay so desert sand isn't the right sand...what happens when you replace the mined sand from sea and river beds with desert sand and leave it there for a while

[@skiadrum3243]

so is it soo hard to make the sand ourselves? Brake racks till the rocks become sand.

[@kennethhanes5438]

Australia is literally a pile of construction materials especially sand to the point we export it sands a lot of country’s problems but not one Australia has

[@willd2156]

Shout out to Stockton beach for providing the majority of Australia's sand needs and also Waikiki beach lovely white sand

[@dukehighness4805]

very good docu... this is well put together, such an insightful vid .. keep it up!

[@johndavis9487]

There has to be a better alternative to using sand for construction, like Hempcrete or M Sand. There's got to be a better way!

[@meatsuitpilot6642]

People need to entertain alternative construction methods. We need to stop pedestaling consumption as a sign of success.

[@superyamky]

There's enough sand in the Sahara desert to get

[@ogreunderbridge5204]

Sand...? This planet is mainly variables of rocks and a liquid metal core. Video date is not right for an April foolery. What are you playing at ? I thought Forbes was to be a serious outlet...

[@roddizon2242]

We could always make stone and rock as replacement for sand, but it need some procedure and work, so there is no problem with it.

[@nadzach]

When Mt. ST. Helen volcano erupted, didn't that produce enough material for creating necessary bricks and concrete? Seems like the need for this dust could be coupled with cleaning it up.

[@NitishKumar-jm7ec]

Not now going on for decades all over the World

[@Maybe1Someday]

Sorry but I dont want my building to be built using hydro slime

[@isirwinalot]

Thank you forbes, thank you so much

[@steveducell2158]

LOL............when are we going to realize, that there are, simply, too many people on the planet?

[@supersonoma9871]

Why not just use all the MF ( Manufactured Fines ) from aggregate operations in Canada and the US, ship it to countries that need it. It's a by-product of rock crushing that doesn't get used all the time and it's piled up. Everything grows out of it. Sometimes the piles turn green.

[@dddon513]

Never heard of? This topic is very well known at this point.

[@kohyuze]

Watched the whole video but I still don't understand what is the environmental crisis from river-mining sand. From the segment at 7.33, - How would mining of dry riverbeds cause the river to die? - Why are deepening of rivers a bad thing? Many rivers suffer from sediment build up, causing floods. This literally increases the capacity of the river to hold more water. - Why is sediment not reaching the sea a bad thing?

[@picklerick2200]

I believe the last point has something to do with nutrients, although can't remember

[@Ideasbarbados]

replay the video

[@jean-martinvonsiebenthal2836]

Sediments not reaching the ocean leads to river deltas sinking, and more beach erosion further down the littoral among other issues.

[@gustavorossoto1288]

I would like to know more about that bioconcrete, is there a possibility to know the article about it that was showed here?

[@nomalevolence]

The bioconcrete field is super interesting!

[@ty0023]

Sahara desert can be used as a source and poor saharan countries can benefit from it :)

[@ronblack7870]

no it's too small and too smooth. concrete sand needs to be jagged and bigger. desert sand is smooth and tiny.

[@ty0023]

@@ronblack7870 sand can be sticked together with chemicals

[@tedchandran]

Jai Hinduja. Just shipped out sands from desert like Gobi, Sahara etc. to places where they are needed.

[@haruki9227]

those selling the sand are selling their country and those that buying those sand are making their country bigger...example singapore....singapore have gone bigger by 25% by expanding their country territory by buying sand

[@mrmoneyhacks5480]

"The world is running out of sand!" China: "Oh no! Mine it faster!"

[@clarkanderson397]

Take it out of the oceans. Shouldn’t it help with rising sea levels? Lol

[@brandonbrekke133]

Riveting piece! Learned a ton!

[@danielrobertson4811]

shill for Big Dredging much?

[@brandonbrekke133]

@@danielrobertson4811 excuse me?

[@jjoohhhnn]

we need mass transit.

[@Septumsempra8818]

This video copied "Caspian Report". Forbes and CNBC are copying KZbinrs a lot recently. Not good.

[@dluoultra9633]

lowkey reminds me of when u mine a lot of sand in minecraft and your rivers and beaches gets fucked. videogames be teaching climate change these days

[@JonTheGeek]

Why don't you eat the sand? Could be faster

[@theCongoleseDude]

Very informative video. Thank you.

[@danielrobertson4811]

Empires have been built on sand and have been destroyed by the sand within them. When the USA sand hegemony fails… then we will know sand freedom

[@prakash_77]

Amazing video, Forbes!

[@peterandro5974]

Some good information but confusing explanation and lacking the most important that ocean dredging is quickly destroying the planed eco system.

[@somerandomfella]

Inmate 1 : What are you in jail for bruh? Inmate 2 : I murdered someone over sand 🤦‍♂️

[@mr.commander3947]

As you can see that billions tons of sand are extracted out from river annually, hence the river bed depth is deeper than before, this phenamonon reach out globally, all of the suddent in recent 20 years, there are more than 2000 various size of rivers in the world have been invaded for sand digging out crisis. I can imaging that the ocean water flood into those deeper river bed rivers, why ??? very simple, whenever high tide occur, it is very easy for the ocean water back flow up stream into those deeper bed rivers due to most of them having water scarcity issue. And I think that is the reason why billion tons of ice melting rapidly each year at north pole and south pole. is it the good answer to global warming????? I don't know.

[@chrislecky710]

Build a planetary resource distribution sector specifically designed to ensure our resourced are not being abused by companies and establishments who display a lack of responsibility. In fact something similar should have been invented decades ago. Such actions would inhibit greedy grabbing ego fools from creating to much damage.

[@freesko1]

Just replace the sea and river sand with the abandoned sand in the desert.

[@edwardevans9162]

Could you replace the sand taken from rivers with desert sand? I understand the potential for spreading disease but still

[@joshuagreen5820]

Wood and glue

[@doghouse416]

We've got a lot of prisoners world wide,...lets start making rocks into sand.

[@moeconcepts7394]

We Africans have enough sand to export

[@nensig8243]

Not the same sand as used in building from seas making it useless

[@zunriya]

@@nensig8243 it can be used but need a ton of water to wash it first

[@nensig8243]

@@zunriya company’s won’t take that extra leverage to waste more water to clean something they can get from somewhere else for cheaper

[@shinqqing5161]

It's cheaper to pay the Bangladesh locals to mine it from Bangladesh river delta.

[@Feelthefx]

10:50 if anything, this video reinforced my paranoia about locking my bedroom door every night

[@gedeongatchessi7701]

does this mean i should invest in sand

[@williammain3247]

I think someone has a lot of sand and wants to drive the value up.

[@siphotheguy1870]

We need to go back to using cow dung

[@dubiousorbs603]

nooooooo 3rd world should never develope

[@colinyuan5404]

solution: US and EU could put sanctions on the companies and persons in developing countries who is mining sands, problems solved!

[@muslimah97]

Mcm quarry,mcm dduk kt forest btul

[@ungoogable]

sand? Africa has the biggest storage

[@kevinn2216]

"And we're running out of it." I stopped watching at this point. I quote: "Nature is an inexhaustible storehouse of riches; the supply will never run out."-The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles. I refuse to see lack and limitation in anything. All I see is abundance.

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

in singapore they found out that a lot of plastic trash can be proccessed to replace sand. there is plenty of plastic trash in the world!!!!!!

[@justinfay3011]

*insert Anakin sand memes here*

[@angelus_solus]

This just reinforces what I've been saying all along. No matter what mankind does, he destroys the earth a bit more. No matter what answer they come up with to solve the problem at hand, it will do nothing but cause another catastrophe somewhere else.

[@jameswhitner2720]

Our yard grows sand

[@bhuvardhanrathore2002]

You should see India getting ducked by such mining

[@antonium4207]

just use plastic, im I right?

[@DylannDayZero]

Well if you can't build with desert sand, then take the desert sand to the river.

[@steven8148]

good sharing, but what 1st world thinks and do don't applied to the 3rd world. As all companies want cheap sands and won't invest in any advanced or good infrastructure for getting the sands. You guys are enjoying your life but we 3rd world are suffered as we depends on you guys to survive. 3rd nation people and environment won't get the same treatment from the 1st nation, we only cares how to survive on day to day basis and have no time thinking about environment impact after 30 yrs.

[@tksmusic1735]

When people in like Asia and Africa developed lifestyle and societies that were organic and nature friendly while they patiently tried to understand nature, they were called savages, underdeveloped, uncivilized, and considered unintelligent. Well, today I guess we may just be beginning to understand why

[@PedanticNo1]

Lol. Uhoh, here comes the ol' "noble savage" bullshit again. You think you're being a good person, but you're really just being a benign racist.

[@TheLegend-mu6zg]

@@PedanticNo1 How is that being racist?

[@PedanticNo1]

@@TheLegend-mu6zg there is ample proof of war, and even genocide, amongst native populations. The person I replied to is suggesting that native populations are superior because they never industrialized. We know for a fact that they were violent. If they had had had access to the animals and subsequent technology other civilizations had access to they would have behaved just like every other human population- specifically because they're human and NOT DIFFERENT from everyone else. Do you see why it might be racist to imply that another group is somehow morally superior in an innate fashion? Google "noble savage" for further reading.

[@TheLegend-mu6zg]

@@PedanticNo1 They never suggested anything about the moral superiority of these peoples. They said that they were seen as less moral by industrialized societies.

[@PedanticNo1]

@@TheLegend-mu6zg ok. If you can't see the implication of their comment, then I don't really have anything more to say. Cheers.

[@mrdre9241]

use, plastic in oceans with cheese lol

[@fatalritte1550]

All so we can build these huge hideous skyscrapers that only a handful of people can afford to live in… If god was real, I’m sure he’d be whooping our asses right now for the mess we’re making of the world. Its all downhill from here.

[@danielrobertson4811]

Maybe this documentary would be more interesting if it were about running out of water and not sand

[@tonylinardi3089]

Sand can be man made.

[@290revolver290]

When the time is right and man becomes desperate for sand, he will find how the desert sand can be used. It's not just time yet.

[@prp3858]

I wish all of the climate change alarmists would have seen this video. This is a genuine crisis. It is not subjective it is something that you can see and touch, unlike other so-called crisis like climate change. Climate change has another name it’s called seasons

[@hsvr]

I dont wear underwear though.. so this doesn’t affect me

[@ketanpatil4233]

12:00

[@deathinflctor]

I don't like sand. It's coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere.

[@mrpablomx]

Have you ever heard of the Tragedy of Darth Sand?

[@deathinflctor]

@@mrpablomx I thought not. It’s not a story the Jedi would tell you. It’s a Sith legend.

[@danielrobertson4811]

I’m building a raised bed garden with sand pathways so I can garden barefoot

[@FergusFromwalking]

Many idiotic stereotypes saying disturbing things. You need to beef up this message!

[@janerhysybilcaralos253]

this is overrated. sand is sustainable, I will believe on this video if they can measure how depth the sand of the river sea or land.

[@johann56566]

está guapo el man

[@jedics1]

We consume to much and those that supply it profit to much without having to pay for taking from our shared resources.

[@ronaldbibi209]

says the guy who probably lives in new york or other already developed countries.

[@jedics1]

@@ronaldbibi209 And your point is?

[@VFPn96kQT]

Do you live in a house? You're the one who is using the "shared resource"

[@jedics1]

@@VFPn96kQT I don't live in a house actually, so whats is your next assumption about a stranger you know nothing about?

[@VFPn96kQT]

@@jedics1 So you're homeless with the internet. Cool :-)

[@andrewjensen8189]

Off topic, but to play devil's advocate against painting neo-colonialism as inherantly bad with one brush stroke, if that principle were to be adopted it would pose that immigrant/migrant work, both skilled and unskilled, is immoral on the worker's side, since the end goal is to send more money to their family back home than they spend in the country they work in. Which goes against the logic that would have to be present in order for neocolonialism to be inherently wrong. Resource and human exploitation is a very real issue, but if someone from a "colonizer" country who was in poverty found a way to pull themselves out of poverty by doing business in say, Kenya, would they be wrong for that?

[@swungdash2]

Let's go Brandon!

[@astemet]

extra ordinary bs dectected

[@danielrobertson4811]

An eight year old could have made this documentary if he had a good camera and good editor hahahahah but seriously a distopian future of sand rationing should terrify you…