EcoZeal

Perhaps nothing feels better on the skin than the touch of silk, but many do not realize the plight of the silkworm and the sacrifice it makes to ensure that we get to have that soft feel.

The silkworm is not actually a worm at all, in fact it is a caterpillar which means that it lives part of its life as a caterpillar and then morphs into a moth called the Bombyx mori moth. Due to several thousand years in captivity, the Bombyx mori cannot fly, is blind, and cannot even eat. It lives for only a few days and its sole purpose is to lay eggs. But that is not the sad part.

Before the silkworm can morph itself it has to first spin a cocoon and it accomplishes this by secreting a sticky substance known as sericteries and when this hits the air pure silk is formed. The little silkworm will weave its cocoon to the tune of 300,000 times to create a completed cocoon and this cocoon will be raw silk. After about ten days the moth will secrete a substance to burn a hole in the cocoon and then emerge to live its short life. But only a handful makes it there because this ruins the silk.

Most silk farmers will boil the cocoons before maturation to preserve the silk but this kills the silkworm inside and it never sees maturity. EcoZeal.com wants everyone to think of this the next time they are considering silk. Is there a more eco-friendly silk? Yes, and in part two of my story we will discover what is known as peace silk or vegetarian silk.