I don’t think this is a digression, this interest in what the items are made of. It is linked to the idea about everything we have being made of other things. And those things all come from the earth, either in mineral form or from the biosphere.
I am not asking the question of composition ad infinitum, whereby we would arrive via elements, molecules, atoms, and sub-atomic particles, at energy and waves. Or wherever we have currently got to in Quantum Physics.
I am interested in the idea that the earth is composed of elements, which exist in a finite quantity. So, to take a ludicrous example, if we use up half the world supply of nickel in making forks, and half in making spoons, there would be nothing left for making teaspoons, or anything else.
