I put a portal in a far-away desert past the village for sand mining pre-1.7. Not that we need to scramble or anything since it'll likely take a month or so, but it's there if anyone needs sand in the meantime without borking the deserts close to town.
Take the Nether path past the Village portal. Easy to find. Also, since I always seem to lose track of space when sand mining, there's a flaming n00b tower on top of the portal hut. It'll help find your way back.
