We all want to look good and be the center of attraction at a party. Brides love wearing something which glitters to stand out from others on their big day. But is it worth killing someone? Yes, here I am talking about silk. I will take you all through the silk production process in this blog post. We all need to know what a silkworm has to go through for one silk thread.
We all have learned about the lifecycle of a silkworm at school in our science textbooks. The lifecycle is as follows:
1. The silkworms hatch out of the eggs.
2. They consume mulberry leaves and grow.
3. They spin cocoons around themselves.
4. The cocoon breaks open, and the worm comes out in the form of a moth.
But the silk industry halts this process at the third step. After cocoon formation, they don’t let the moths break open the cocoon. They boil the cocoons when the silkworms are alive inside! After boiling, the sericin (gum that binds the cocoon) becomes soft, and it becomes easy to unwind the cocoons to obtain silk threads. Also, keeping the worms in captivity and breeding them is the first thing the silk producers do. According to the demand for silk, the worms are bred, trapped, and used for silk.
But then why not use ahimsa silk? In the process of obtaining ahimsa silk, the worms don’t get killed, but here’s something we all need to understand. In this process, silk is made out of cocoons that the moths already broke open. But that doesn’t mean it’s cruelty-free. The thing that worms are kept in captivity and bred for silk doesn’t change. Ahimsa silk is not an option. We have been using the abolitionist approach to end slavery and other forms of oppression, so why not use the same approach here? There are so many vegan silk alternatives. Why choose non-vegan silk or even ahimsa silk? Let’s choose vegan silk and keep the worms out of the scene. Vegan silk is made of bananas, pineapples, lotus, and cactus. Other alternatives can be velvet, satin, linen, and chiffon. Also, please check out Shubham sarees for 100% vegan silk sarees.
Many people get disgusted at the sight of worms, but does that mean they don’t deserve to live? 50000 silkworms die just for one silk saree! Effing 50000 worms! They are living beings and don’t deserve to be boiled alive. Please understand that silk is a luxury, not a necessity. We can easily live without it. Plus, there are vegan silk alternatives available, so why choose cruelty?
– By Vaibhavi lonkar
