The first thing with Sand is we're not even aware that this is an issue.

Most people would say, what are you talking about?

Sand is everywhere.

Singapore is being accused of expanding its coastline with illegally dredged sand from neighbouring states.

It's literally the foundation of our society, houses, office buildings, factories, hospitals, schools,

roads, railways, airports.

Everything has some concrete in it somewhere and you cannot make concrete

without sand. In the last 10 years coastal communities in Massachusetts have

spent 40 million dollars in public funds placing sand on beaches.

Coastal experts say that figure will swell as local sources of beach sand become increasingly scarce.

We use hundreds and hundreds of thousands of tons of concrete.

You're talking about 1.8 cubic meters of concrete per person per year on the planet.

You can't move that amount of material and extract it without having an extreme impact on the environment.

We have been irresponsible. We've used it in a manner where we are ruining our beaches,

ruining our creeks.

It's like the elephant in the room. Nobody seems to see that this is an issue.

When most of us think of sand, we immediately think of sunny beaches, seashells and summer holidays. But actually, it's in pretty much

everything that surrounds us in our everyday lives.

From the walls of our homes to the glass bottles in our kitchens, the mobile phones in our hands,

and even the tires in our cars.

It's everywhere. Sand is the second most used

resource in the world after water. It accounts for more than two-thirds of

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