Each year, 40 billion tons of sand is extracted globally, 9 times more than crude oil.
While sand is used in several everyday items such as glass, electronics and an overwhelming amount is used for fracking, the no.1 sand consumer is still the construction industry.
It is a prosperous market but this prosperity comes at a price which the environment pays for: To build an average family house about 200 tons of sand is required, for 1 mile of highway about 45,000 tons.
Our society is literally built on sand and because of this enormous sand demand our global sand supplies are coming to an end.
If the sand consumption continues at the same pace, we will no longer have any beaches around the world by the year 2100.
See the detailed overview of global sand usage and the environmental harm it can cause in the infographic below.
