Do You Take Beach Sand Home With You? Apparently, It’s Bad for You as Well as the Planet
Being a tourist is fun, and most of us may be guilty of taking home a little souvenir from the holiday destination to treasure the memories. This may be a tiny pebble or a handful of sand from the place known for its rocky terrains or flawless sand beaches. While it may seem harmless, people can actually end up in prison or on the run from the law for taking sand back home intentionally. A report by Reader’s Digest explains why it is important for tourists to be more considerate of the sand on beaches despite its abundance across the world.
Collecting sand calls for trouble
To understand the significance of sand, it is important to know what it actually is. Sand is the end product of decomposed rocks, organic byproducts, and even parrotfish poop, as per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. As environmentalist Rachel Carson explains, "In every curving beach, in every grain of sand, there is a story of the Earth." Now, imagine hundreds of tourists removing sand from a beach. The local ecosystem and biodiversity of the location will likely be affected in some form. While it may be replenished over time, it takes longer than a few years for the natural forces to create sand.
A French couple was arrested and faced up to six years in prison for taking sand from a beach in Sardinia in Italy, per a CNN report. Police spotted a few bottles filled with sand in a car waiting to board a ferry heading to Toulon in southern France. The couple was taken to court for aggravated theft with a fine of $3,300 and 1 to 6 years of imprisonment in 2019. It would have been better if the tourist couple were aware of the Italian island’s stringent laws to protect its white sand, not affirming to which would be a criminal offence.
Hawaii enforces similar laws to protect beaches such as Papakolea Beach and Punalu’s Beach and imposes fines of up $100,000. Elafonisi beach, also known as the ‘pink beach’ in Crete, Greece, is now a natural reserve after the government found a way to stop tourists from taking the sand back with them. The Natural Resources Director at SRQ County Parks informed viewers that taking sand from their beaches is illegal.
How is sand important?
As beautiful and unimportant as it may seem, sand is one of the most used natural resources in the world after air and water. Sand is rich in minerals, used for skincare and largely in concrete production for construction. As a result, the booming construction industry is exploiting sand resources from across the world. Sand is an integral part of it, in addition to making furniture and hardware. While the common man underestimates the potential of sand, it is a $2.3 billion market in countries like India, generated solely through illegal businesses. @TomScottGo explained how the world is running out of sand.
With that stated, it is also worth noting that sand is rapidly vanishing from the face of Earth. A 2018 report by The Guardian estimated that 67% of the Southern California beaches will disappear by 2100. About 50 billion tons of sand are utilized across the world annually, and like every other natural resource, it now faces a threat to its existence. Therefore, tourists and the general public must be made aware of how every natural resource is interlinked to co-exist for the ecosystem to work successfully. Practices like collecting seashells from the beach also gravely risk the ecosystem in coastlines and oceans.
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