Fast Fact: Silk

Silkworms

Did you know it takes approximately 3,000 silkworms to create just 1 pound of silk?  Did you know that they are boiled alive?  How about that the worms do feel pain?

From The Vegetarian Society:

Silk comes from silkworms, which are not true worms but the caterpillars of the silk moth, Bombyx mori. The caterpillars will only eat mulberry leaves and when they are ready to pupate, they protect themselves by spinning the silk round and round themselves to form a cocoon. Typically, each worm produces a mile and a half of continuous thread. When metamorphosis is complete and the moth is ready to leave its cocoon, it secretes an alkali which eats its way through the thread. This spoils the thread for spinning as it is no longer continuous. So, in order to get good quality silk, the moths must be killed before they leave the cocoon. This is done by suffocation with steam or heating them in an oven. Only a small number necessary for breeding the next generation are allowed to complete their lifecycle. Whether or not the pupae feel any pain whilst being suffocated or subjected to heat is debatable, but most vegetarians consider silk is not acceptable as it cannot be produced without the death of a living creature.

There are alternatives for silk.  We don’t need to take a life, no matter the size, for any reason.  Check out this Q&A on Yahoo! that talks about alternatives to silk.