Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, humans have gotten immensely adept at taking more than the world can replenish. But desert sand, eroded by wind, is more difficult to work with than river sand. China, India, and Vietnam rank as the three highest consumers of river sand in the world. Meanwhile, China used more sand in three years than the U.S. used during the entire 20th century. A 2024 study in Results of Engineering concluded that recycled and even desert sand, which is more readily accessible, can lessen the demand for river sand by at least 50 percent.