Whats everyone's take on wearing silk products? I dont know what "manufacturing" is like in westernised countries (does anyone know?) but I visited a silk factory in Vietnam and they chuck the worms into boiling water - while still alive in their cocoons - to separate them from the silk.
I suppose though it wouldnt really matter what practices they have here, because clothing companies would most likely want to source the cheapest product available anyway, so would probably look to countries like Vietnam for supply?
Going to the roots of veganism, the silk worms, like any other animal, cannot give consent to the taking of a product/by product of their existence. So it is therefore, by definition, not vegan (regardless of the cruelty involved).
So that's the word's opinion on the matter.. but I suppose I'm not vegan to most strictest of terms (for example, if I had chickens I would probably have no problem using their eggs). But even still, like you said, I don't know where the silk came from and how the silk is acquired in Australia.. so I'll just avoid it... I never really liked the feeling of the material anyway
'Sericulture' is the term given to the production of silk. As you can see by the suffix '-culture', the practices involves the use of something living... silk worms. It was considered very, very, very important in ancient Chinese history.
The process is also quite painstaiking. After being bred in perfect conditions, they spin their cocoons which resemble bits of white fluff. Once this is finished, the cocoons are either steamed or boiled to kill the worms inside, which have now finished their job. And it takes about 30,000 worms to produce just 5kg of raw silk!
I wouldn't wear it.. I have never owned anything silk and I don't think I've ever come across it?
It's not vegan, but there are some things I wear which aren't vegan, like my school jumper which comes in two styles, both of them made out of wool... grrr..
I used to have a big problem with silk, still do, but I know that there is a type of silk (i don't know its name) which they wait for the silk worms to leave the cocoon before taking the silk, however, there would be no real way to tell which silk came from the more humane processes and which came from the less humane processes.
Silk is taken from silk worms, and as was said, they do not consent to it, but taking the spent cocoons is a lot more humane, liking taking cow poo and turning it into fertilizer. The cows won't consent, but I don't think they wouldn't consent either. Either way, i'm happy with my non-silk pyjamas
