We became a species with the capability of manipulating our surroundings. We learned to force certain qualities that we found desirable and useful into the materials. This still goes on. We grab hold of a certain material and instill new qualities into it, in an ever increasingly sophisticated process, and we do so because we are capable of fashioning conceptual representations and dreams. About weapons, devices, furniture, houses, means of transportation, clothing and all other kinds of aids that make it possible for us to survive inside a world that we are basically unfit for inhabiting.
Human nature is to be against nature.
We do not follow the law of the jungle. To whatever degree we are conscious about ecology and energy consumption, this is for our own benefit. From the earliest times, cultures in colder or arctic regions had to devise implements for difficult forms of hunting and fishing, develop intricate techniques for making clothes and build up sturdy places for dwelling that afforded some measure of protection against life-threatening climates. Cultures continued to develop, but ever so slowly. And eventually they became civilisations.