Ahimsa Silk Essay

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Ahimsa Silk, also known as Peace Silk, is processed from cocoons without killing the pupae inside. Many vegetarians and even some vegans have decided that it allows them a way to use silk without sacrificing animal life. In the vast majority of cases, it's more complicated than it appears. I feel that anyone who is using these silk products as part of a vegan lifestyle should carefully consider the process, and see if it really fits with their philosophy. "Ahimsa," meaning "nonviolence," is a part of Buddhist philosophy, stating that humans should refrain from inflicting suffering on others, including non-human and even non-animal life. There are some Jains (a religious group with many similarities to Buddhists) who take this philosophy so deeply to heart that they avoid killing even the smallest creatures, and provide special houses where insects swept up in household dirt can live out their lives. There are two main types of Ahimsa Silk, cultivated and "wild" (semi-domesticated). Cultivated Bombyx mori, male moth Most cultivated Ahimsa Silk is Bombyx mori. It is raised just like conventional cultivated silk, right up to the point where the cocoons would be stifled, or processed with heat, in order to kill the pupa and keep it from breaking through the cocoon. The Ahimsa cocoons are all allowed to hatch and breed, and the silk is processed from the hatched cocoons. In some cases, the cocoons can be cut open and the pupa tipped out; this avoids the moth soiling the cocoon with urine. The main issue that I have with this style of cultivation being vegetarian-appropriate, is that each fertilized female moth will lay between 200 and 1000 eggs, averaging around 500. In some strains, the eggs will require refrigeration - without refrigeration, the living embryos within the fertilized eggs will wither and die over the course of a month or two. If they are

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