Sand And Sustainability

Sand and gravels are the unrecognised foundational material of our economies. They are mined the world over, with aggregates accounting for the largest volume of solid material extracted globally (Peduzzi, 2014; Beiser, 2018). At the same time, these materials cannot be produced from our terrestrial, riverine and marine environments in quantities needed to meet demand from a world of 10 billion people without effective policy, planning, regulation and management. Such actions remain largely unaddressed by decision makers in public or private sectors. It is time to challenge the paradigm of infinite sand resources through constructive dialogue and solution-finding. This report aims to be the starting point from which a productive global conversation on sand extraction can begin. This synthesis was produced following a United Nations Environment Programme expert roundtable event held on 11 October 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland. The discussions emphasised potential solutions for mitigating mineral sands and aggregates extraction impacts and generating adequate support for responsible consumption pathways. Expert views were collated and complemented with additional research and consultation to distil key messages on an agenda for tackling this issue in 2019 and beyond.

The overuse of sand is 'one of the major sustainability challenges of the 21st-century.' - United Nations Environment Program, 2019 Sand is the hidden foundation of our society. In Sand Stories, Kiran Pereira maps out the big picture of why it is the most consumed commodity on the planet after water. The book also examines the impacts of our seemingly insatiable demand for sand on our global Sustainable Development Goals. The concern is that sand is a non-renewable resource and not every kind of sand is useful. While the number of sand's uses beyond glass and concrete is growing, its sources are not. The good news is that there are solutions to this alarming global problem including those that foster a circular economy. We now need the political will to enact them.

This book explores the drivers and impacts of sand mining in the coastal areas of Lagos Nigeria. Based on empirical evidence, sand mining activity is driven by a number of urbanization-related factors while sand mining impacts are underlined by a number of sustainability-related factors. Four urbanization components describe the drivers of sand mining and four sustainability components describe the impacts of sand mining in Lagos. This book concludes on the puzzling dilemma of sand mining that supports thriving urbanization but undermines environmental sustainability in Lagos. Of course, sand mining has strong implications for environmental sustainability in Lagos coastal areas. This book is of immense benefit to environmental planners, city administrators, students of environmental science and the general public who have regards for environmental management.

This book addresses most of the environmental impacts of sand mining from small rivers The problems and solutions addressed in this book are applicable to all rivers that drain through densely populated tropical coasts undergoing rapid economic growth. Many rivers in the world are drastically being altered to levels often beyond their natural resilience capability. Among the different types of human interventions, mining of sand and gravel is the most disastrous one, as the activity threatens the very existence of river ecosystem. A better understanding of sand budget is necessary if the problems of river and coastal environments are to be solved.

Worldwide demand for sand and gravel is increasing daily, as the need for these materials continues to rise, for example in the construction sector, in land filling and for transportation sector based infrastructural projects. This results in over-extraction of sand from channel beds, and hampers the natural renewal of sediment, geological setup and morphological processes of the riverine system. In India, illegal sand mining (of alluvial channels) and gravel mining (of perennial channels) are two anthropogenic issues that negatively affect the sustainable drainage system. Along the Kangsabati River in India, the consequences of sand mining are very serious. The construction of Mukutmonipur Dam (1958) on the river causes huge sediment deposition along the middle and downstream areas, these same areas are also intensely mined for sand (instream and on the flood plain). Geospatial models are applied in order to better understand the state and the resilience of stream hydraulics, morphological and river ecosystem variables during pre-mining and post-mining stages, using micro-level datasets of the Kangsabati River. The book also includes practicable measures to minimize the environmental consequences of instream mining in respect to optimum sand mining. It discusses the threshold limits of each variable in stream hydraulics, morphological and river ecological regime, and also discusses the most affected variables. Consequently, all outputs will be very useful for students, researchers, academicians, decision makers and practitioners and will facilitate applying these techniques to create models for other river basins.

Rapid industrial growth has witnessed the ever-increasing utilization of sand from rivers for various construction purposes, which has caused disruption to natural ecosystems. Sustainable Construction Materials: Recycled Spent Garnet presents an investigation into the capacity for these minerals to serve as a sand replacement and as a viable, sustainable construction material to help mitigate the current rate of exploitation of river sand. Features: Presents the effects of spent garnet on the fresh and hardened characteristics of self-compacting geopolymer concrete in terms of workability and mechanical strength. Examines spent garnet with regard to concrete durability in response to carbonation, as well as sulphate and acid attack. Includes a comprehensive review of the existing literature in the field, including past developments in self-compacting geopolymer concrete, as well as the ongoing activities in the field of spent garnet-based concrete production.

This series of essays examines the underlying historical, cultural, and philosophical issues that undermine the sustainability of natural resources and proposes alternative approaches to conservation. These approaches emphasize the relations among populations rather than among individuals; the integrity of the whole ecosystems across longer time frames; the importance of qualitative as well as quantitative indicators of human welfare and sustainability; and the unpredictable and interdependent interaction among "natural," scientific, and regulatory processes. Charts and tables.

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2022-553/ Responsible production and consumption, Goal 12 of the 2030 Agenda, has been identified as one of the areas where the Nordic countries face the biggest challenges in their sustainable development work. The international research on the environmental impact of individuals’ consumption patterns shows that factors such as sex, income and ethnicity have great explanatory value, and that inequalities per se, leads to increased emissions from consumption.In the project “Sustainability, lifestyles, and consumption from a gender perspective” within the Sustainable lifestyles in the Nordic region programme, NIKK has produced a research overview that reveals and challenges gender stereotypes in relation to consumption and lifestyles relation to 1) Food, 2) Housing and energy, 3) Clothing and consumer goods, 4) Transport, 5) Work and time use, 6) Culture and tourism, 7) Activism and influence.