Wool - Contrary to what bullshit mongers like PETA would have you believe, wool is one of the most ethical materials humans have ever worked with. Happy sheep make better wool, experienced shearers seldom nick their sheep, and older sheep produce more wool, meaning its best to keep them alive and treat them well for many years.
Leather - one cow makes SO MUCH leather. One deer makes SO MUCH leather. Well-treated leather lasts almost FOREVER. Even animals with small skins like rabbits, a pair of well oiled rabbit leather gloves will last decades. Every animal usually made into leather is also a meat animal, so it’s more sustainable to get more than one product from a single ethically butchered animal (humane kills make less punctures in the hide!) Leather can be tanned with natural resources like brains and doesn’t require treatment with chemicals that seep into the groundwater!
Cotton: Cotton is a fucking plant, it burns. The growing and harvesting of cotton is rather water intensive but it IS possible to sustainably harvest and reuse the water spent in the cleaning process to reduce the ecological footprint of the crop. It burns clean, it cuts clean, it’s sturdy, and there are 1000 ways to weave it to change its properties.
Bees & Honey: yes yes, the european honey bee is an invasive species, we know that. But honey has been cultivated by humans for just about as long as there have been humans, and they 100% choose to be cultivated. Like bees can and will leave if they’re not treated and maintained well. They understand that humans protect and clean the hives, and often become familiar with their keepers, choosing to walk on and investigate them instead of acting defensive. If animal welfare and consent are your concerns, honeybees aren’t the animals to worry about. If you, like me, are worried about native bee species, instead of creating hives you can strip an area of grass and leave an open area of clay and sandy soil to attract mason and digger bees to nest in the spring. They will happily coexist with honey bees as long as you plant the native keystone species the native bees rely on (like indian blanket flower, partridge pea, native violets in my area) as well as the high nectar plants that honeybees prefer (like roses, sunflowers, bee balm and cone flowers). Nature is actually really adaptable and accommodating of the human urge to cultivate plants and animals, and the idea that nature is ‘dead’ rather than ‘neglected’ is something that corporations want you to believe so you don’t oppose them spraying pesticides every 15 feet.
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