Sand crisis: Mafias thrive as shortages loom Demand for construction sand is rising faster than supply, pushing even countries in the Middle East to import it from as far away as Australia and Canada. Mining so much sand is destroying ecosystems and fueling violence It makes up the concrete of our houses, the tarmac of our roads, the glass in our windows and the silicon chips in our phones. But sand, a building block of modern life that sits at the heart of a destructive and sometimes illegal industry, is in increasingly short supply — and nobody knows how soon it will run out.