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 Grantville sand mine. Photo: Tim O'Brien By Lauren Burns
AFTER water, sand is the second most used natural resource on earth. We use even more sand than oil. Growing cities such as Melbourne create demand for the sand used in concrete. It takes about 200 tonnes of sand to build an average family house, and a kilometre of a highway requires about 25,000 tonnes. Like many of Earth’s resources, we’re using more sand than is being naturally replenished by natural life systems. Globally, we’re using 50 billion tonnes of sand every year, twice the amount of sand produced by every river in the world.  Over the past 10 years residents and local environment groups have lovingly restored Screw Creek in Inverloch By Lauren Burns
AUSTRALIANS’ love of nature unites us. A 2019 survey of 55,000 people by the ABC found that ‘appreciation of the natural environment’ was the second most important aspect of ‘being Australian’. Yet, paradoxically, we are in the midst of an extinction crisis. The Australian Conservation Foundation reports that 1 million species are at risk of extinction globally, including nearly 2000 Australian plants, animals and ecosystems. |
