Wearing Clothes

Like shelter, clothing is a necessity of life in that they both provide needed covering and protection from the environment around us. If we live without shelter we would be vulnerable to temperature extremes, rain, snow, turbulent wind, sand storms, and other storms. If we lived without clothes we would be vulnerable to overexposure to the sun, precipitation, to jagged and sharp edges, to dirt, to unsanitary conditions, and body secretions. Clothes give us a layer of added protection in our environment that would otherwise cause us to have to bathe more often, clean more often, and take more precautionary measures to maintain hygienic and sanitary conditions. Clothing technology has come from the merely practical to fashion and super protective (like the suit of an astronaut). The first known pair of clothes was made from plant material, leaves to be exact. The second pair of clothes was of animal skin. This was clothing tech at its beginning. Mankind has come a long way since then with the development of clothes but the basic materials that clothes are made from virtually remain the same. Natural materials are always the best materials to use. Man has come to use both soft plant tissue and harder plant materials to make clothes. Such plants as cotton, flax, corn, and bamboo (bamboo is of the grass family of plants). Then we have come to make clothes out of minerals and metals such as armored suits. Silk clothing comes mostly from the silk worm and other animals provide material for making clothing that does not require the death an animal. For instance sheep and goats have wool and hair that is shorn to make clothes. I personally think that clothing that comes from a living animal should only be used if it does not harm the animal in the process. If the animal dies of natural or accidental causes then it would be humane and useful to use the hide for a beneficial purpose like making clothes out of it. Elephants seem to make the gathering of their hide easy for us because reportedly they go to a mutually chosen area to die when they are aware of their pending death. If this is the case it may only apply to each particular herd and not the entire elephant population. At any case, if a certain spot is known to be an elephant graveyard these spots can be monitored and the elephant hides can be gathered from there without harming live elephants. We should do as vultures do, accept without the eager anticipation of the death of a creature. Perhaps if researchers know the natural pattern that each animal has in preparing for death then such hides, tusks, and bones can be more humanely and easily gathered. This also would require patience and the avoidance of simply supplying a demand for such clothing that will not be readily available to supply. We as consumers can help the clothing industry by not purchasing any items that we know was procured by causing the death of an animal, like silk, leather, and any animal hide. We can live without it while we request that the industry regulate a humane way of gathering these products without harming animals. But after material is gathered for making clothes and the clothes are made and placed on the market, what should we buy and how should we wear it?