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In Sardinia (Italy) we have a similar problem, many tourists steals beach sand as a souvenir. The number of tourists that does this is so big that some beaches

In Sardinia (Italy) we have a similar problem, many tourists steals beach sand as a souvenir. The number of tourists that does this is so big that some beaches got smaller, and goverment has choose to put a stop by giving huge fines and possibly jail time. https://www.google.com/search?q=sardinian+sand+theft https://www.google.com/search?q=sardinian+sand+theft

londons_explore 7y ago
I'd be interested to see the distribution of amounts of sand stolen per person. If 10% of people steal a shot-glass of sand as a momento from a beach 100 meters X 100 meters which has 1000 daily visitors, the sand goes down 1cm every hundred years, which is waay slower than sealevel rise. If people start taking sackfulls home, the balance changes quickly though.
- maury91 7y ago
  usually, there are pictures in the articles with images of the stolen sand. The majority of time is not a shot-glass, but more like a bottle. Here some pictures: https://www.ilmessaggero.it/photogallery_img/MED/31/07/4453107_21753016_839907326182758_4434824609517010183_o.jpg https://www.ilmessaggero.it/photogallery_img/MED/31/07/44531... https://www.repstatic.it/content/nazionale/img/2019/04/26/113558345-5f0e53e0-9766-44e9-a56e-90d7fa3f8bb4.jpg https://www.repstatic.it/content/nazionale/img/2019/04/26/11... https://filecdn.nonsprecare.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/FURTI-DI-SABBIA11.jpg https://filecdn.nonsprecare.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/FU... https://www.gelestatic.it/thimg/xdU2x4YwGfNp33fZp0ePMCBh38M=/fit-in/960x540/https%3A//www.lastampa.it/image/contentid/policy%3A1.37366388%3A1566372139/ansa_20190819_101124_001770.JPG%3Ff%3Ddetail_558%26h%3D720%26w%3D1280%26%24p%24f%24h%24w%3D3119670 https://www.gelestatic.it/thimg/xdU2x4YwGfNp33fZp0ePMCBh38M=... https://trekking.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/copertina1-1000x586.jpg https://trekking.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/copertina1-10... A shot-glass is around the tolerable level because it's the amount of sand you find in your shorts when you are back home from the beach.
  - homonculus1 7y ago
    Whatever department manages the beaches should insert themselves into this practice to moderate it. Sell pretty glass display bottles that are more attractive than a bag or soda bottle, but happen to be tiny. This wouldn't work if it inspired enough people to start collecting to outweigh the savings from intervention.
    - maury91 7y ago
      99% of the beaches are unmoderated (is an island so we have a lot of them). Tourists are usually caught at the airport or boarding the ferry (only 2 ways for leaving the island). Sometimes they are also spotted while they steal sand on the beach by the locals, that stops them and call the police.
      - jacobwilliamroy 7y ago
        Stamp their passports! No more Sardinia for them! Ever!
      - londons_explore 7y ago
        The government should sell little glass test tubes for $5 each (ie. A very inflated price compared to the 10 cents such glassware costs). Put a government logo on them and a serial number. Then put up signs at beaches saying "Taking sand is illegal unless you do it in a government vial". Allow tourist sellers to resell the vials on the beaches. Then at airports and ports, allow those vials to go out filled with sand. Ban the import of vials (probably no need to enforce, because filling tiny containers is unlikely worth it on a criminal scale). It's a very low effort way to tax a product without requiring tax returns and paperwork.
qwerty456127 7y ago
A classic example of how boring governments are. All they can do is ban, fine and imprison. If I were the governor I'd just import the sand from Sahara and include the expenses (as well as some reasonable profit) in the beach entrance fee. They are going to have to import it anyway, why not just accept the reality and turn the problem into business?
- maury91 7y ago
  I hope you are joking. The sand that is stolen is not just any sand, people steals that sand because it's different, for example, some sand is pink, some is made by small quartz stones, some is red, some is black. Replacing it with generic Sahara sand will result in a "new" beach, and is not what we want. We want to stop people from taking the sand, not make a business out of it.
  - qwerty456127 7y ago
    A spoiler: The people won't stop. No matter how hard you ban.
    - platz 7y ago
      Tragedy of the commons fatalism, eh? I guess there's nothing we can do - burn everything.
    - harimau777 7y ago
      I don't think they need to stop it completely. They just need to reduce it enough that it doesn't outpace the beach's ability to replenish the sand.
- yardie 7y ago
  Sahara sand is different from beach sand. It's very fine and when it gets wet it feels more like paste then sand. It's why the UAE has to import sand for construction projects even though the cities are literally built on top of it.

londons_explore 7y ago

I'd be interested to see the distribution of amounts of sand stolen per person. If 10% of people steal a shot-glass of sand as a momento from a beach 100 meters X 100 meters which has 1000 daily visitors, the sand goes down 1cm every hundred years, which is waay slower than sealevel rise. If people start taking sackfulls home, the balance changes quickly though.

maury91 7y ago
usually, there are pictures in the articles with images of the stolen sand. The majority of time is not a shot-glass, but more like a bottle. Here some pictures: https://www.ilmessaggero.it/photogallery_img/MED/31/07/4453107_21753016_839907326182758_4434824609517010183_o.jpg https://www.ilmessaggero.it/photogallery_img/MED/31/07/44531... https://www.repstatic.it/content/nazionale/img/2019/04/26/113558345-5f0e53e0-9766-44e9-a56e-90d7fa3f8bb4.jpg https://www.repstatic.it/content/nazionale/img/2019/04/26/11... https://filecdn.nonsprecare.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/FURTI-DI-SABBIA11.jpg https://filecdn.nonsprecare.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/FU... https://www.gelestatic.it/thimg/xdU2x4YwGfNp33fZp0ePMCBh38M=/fit-in/960x540/https%3A//www.lastampa.it/image/contentid/policy%3A1.37366388%3A1566372139/ansa_20190819_101124_001770.JPG%3Ff%3Ddetail_558%26h%3D720%26w%3D1280%26%24p%24f%24h%24w%3D3119670 https://www.gelestatic.it/thimg/xdU2x4YwGfNp33fZp0ePMCBh38M=... https://trekking.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/copertina1-1000x586.jpg https://trekking.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/copertina1-10... A shot-glass is around the tolerable level because it's the amount of sand you find in your shorts when you are back home from the beach.
- homonculus1 7y ago
  Whatever department manages the beaches should insert themselves into this practice to moderate it. Sell pretty glass display bottles that are more attractive than a bag or soda bottle, but happen to be tiny. This wouldn't work if it inspired enough people to start collecting to outweigh the savings from intervention.
  - maury91 7y ago
    99% of the beaches are unmoderated (is an island so we have a lot of them). Tourists are usually caught at the airport or boarding the ferry (only 2 ways for leaving the island). Sometimes they are also spotted while they steal sand on the beach by the locals, that stops them and call the police.
    - jacobwilliamroy 7y ago
      Stamp their passports! No more Sardinia for them! Ever!
    - londons_explore 7y ago
      The government should sell little glass test tubes for $5 each (ie. A very inflated price compared to the 10 cents such glassware costs). Put a government logo on them and a serial number. Then put up signs at beaches saying "Taking sand is illegal unless you do it in a government vial". Allow tourist sellers to resell the vials on the beaches. Then at airports and ports, allow those vials to go out filled with sand. Ban the import of vials (probably no need to enforce, because filling tiny containers is unlikely worth it on a criminal scale). It's a very low effort way to tax a product without requiring tax returns and paperwork.

qwerty456127 7y ago

A classic example of how boring governments are. All they can do is ban, fine and imprison. If I were the governor I'd just import the sand from Sahara and include the expenses (as well as some reasonable profit) in the beach entrance fee. They are going to have to import it anyway, why not just accept the reality and turn the problem into business?

maury91 7y ago
I hope you are joking. The sand that is stolen is not just any sand, people steals that sand because it's different, for example, some sand is pink, some is made by small quartz stones, some is red, some is black. Replacing it with generic Sahara sand will result in a "new" beach, and is not what we want. We want to stop people from taking the sand, not make a business out of it.
- qwerty456127 7y ago
  A spoiler: The people won't stop. No matter how hard you ban.
  - platz 7y ago
    Tragedy of the commons fatalism, eh? I guess there's nothing we can do - burn everything.
  - harimau777 7y ago
    I don't think they need to stop it completely. They just need to reduce it enough that it doesn't outpace the beach's ability to replenish the sand.
yardie 7y ago
Sahara sand is different from beach sand. It's very fine and when it gets wet it feels more like paste then sand. It's why the UAE has to import sand for construction projects even though the cities are literally built on top of it.