Sand is becoming a scarce resource
Doug_Epperly
| Posted in Green Building Techniques on
Good Day,
There are a number of recent stories about the growing scarcity of sand and how this can impact construction, industrial and electronics industries (for example, see http://pulitzercenter.org/projects/deadly-global-war-sand). One example cited how China has used more sand for construction projects in the last few years than the US used on all of the 20th century.
In any event, this got me thinking about how to avoid or minimize the use of sand in our home construction project. What options exist to avoid the use of concrete and other sand-consuming products? Are there ways to minimize it’s use?
Doug
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Replies
Doug,
If you want to read the GBA news story on this topic, here is the link: Sand for Construction Is Vanishing.
My take:
1. This is a local problem, not a global problem -- entirely due to the high costs of transportation of this dense material. If you live near a quarry with thousands of years worth of sand, as I do, then your efforts to conserve sand will do nothing to help the sand shortage in Singapore.
2. It's easy enough to build a house without any concrete. Build your house on pressure-treated piers, and frame your walls with lumber.