about

As wisely said by the great poet, Kabir das, one

should realize that other living beings feel pain
in the same way we do. This is a research project,
where I studied and explored the various aspects
of silk and how it is procured from nature. It is
quite baffling that us humans, who claim to be
the smart species, cannot figure out how its
immoral to kill anything for luxury. This is about
research on silk and its healthier alternatives and
my attempt to raise awareness towards it.
what is silk?
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of
which can be woven into textiles. The protein
fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin
and is produced by certain insect larvae to
form cocoons. The best-known silk is
obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the
mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in
captivity (sericulture). The shimmering
appearance of silk is due to the triangular
prism-like structure of the silk fiber, which
allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at
different angles, thus producing different colors.
Silk is produced by several insects; but,
generally, only the silk of moth caterpillars
has been used for textile manufacturing.
There has been some research into other
types of silk, which differ at the molecular
level. Silk is mainly produced by the larvae
of insects undergoing complete
metamorphosis, but some insects, such as
web spinners and raspy crickets, produce
silk throughout their lives. Silk production
also occurs in Hymenoptera (bees, wasps,
and ants), silverfish, mayflies, thrips,
leafhoppers, beetles, lacewings, fleas, flies,
and midges. Other types of arthropods
produce silk, most notably various arachnids,
such as spiders.
 
process of
silk production
1.The silk moth lays thousands of eggs.
2.The silk moth eggs hatch to form
larvae or caterpillars, known as silkworms.
3.The larvae feed on mulberry leaves.
4.Having grown and mounted several
times, the silkworm pushes out silk fibers
to make a net to hold itself.
5.It swings its head from side to side in a
figure '8' distributing the saliva that will form silk.
6.The silk solidifies when it contacts the air.
7.The silkworm spins approximately one
mile of filament (fiber) and completely
encloses itself in a cocoon. This takes
about two or three days.
8.The whole cocoons are picked and
boiled, killing the silkworm pupa.
9.The silk is obtained by brushing the
undamaged cocoon to find the outside end
of the filament.
10.The silk filaments are then wound on a reel.
11.The amount of usable quality silk in each
cocoon is small. As a result, about 2500
silkworms are required to produce a pound
of raw silk.

12.One cocoon contains approximately

1,000 yards (meters) of silk filament. The silk
at the winding stage is known as "raw" silk.
One thread is made up of as many as 48
individual silk filaments.
types of
silk worms
The term 'Vanya' is of Sanskrit origin, meaning
untamed, wild, or forest-based. Muga,
Tasar, and Eri silkworms are not fully tamed
and the world lovingly calls the silks they
produce as 'wild silks'.
India produces four kinds of silk: mulberry,
tasar, muga and eri. The silkworm Bombyx
mori is fed on mulberry leaves cultivated in
plantations. Silkworms are also found wild
on forest trees, e.g Antheraea paphia which
produces the tasar silk (Tussah). Antheraea
paphia feeds on several trees such as
Anogeissus latifolia, Terminalia tomentosa,
T. arjuna (Terminalia arjuna), Lagerstroemia
parviflora and Madhuca indica. Wild silkworm
Antheraea assamensis produces muga silk, and
another wild silkworm Philosamia synthia
ricini (= Samia cynthia) produces eri silk. The
estimated annual production of tasar silk is
130 tonnes. Production of other types of silk
exceeds 10 000 tonnes (Gupta 1994).
Silk: ethical vs.
sustainable debate
Sustainability is constantly a consumer demand.
Being a natural fiber extracted from the
worm’s cocoon, the fabric is completely
biodegradable, making it a good solution for the
problem of textile waste. It’s considered an
eco-friendly production process by the ISC since
it increases green cover and helps soil
conservation, preventing erosion.

Different types of worms that feed on different

plants can produce a fabric that is naturally
colorful, such as the Tasar (green), Eri (white or red),
and Assam (golden yellow); hence diminishing
the need for a dyeing process that could be
chemically heavy and resource wasteful.
It’s worth remembering,
however, that those types represent only 10% of the
overall production – the rest of the commercial fabric
comes exclusively from mulberry crops.
There are no doubts that in a transparent
process, this is a fabric that is highly sustainable,
both socially and environmentally. However,
is it ethical?

One of the debates around ethics and silk

is that, in order to retrieve a higher-quality
thread from the cocoon, the worm must be
prevented from damaging it, and its
metamorphosis cycle must be stopped before
it becomes a moth. One unbroken cocoon is
made of a single filament, measuring up to a
kilometer in length. Quality wise, the smoothest
fabric derives from “reeling” the filament in
one unbroken piece
Many companies achieve
that by boiling or steaming the cocoons and
then discarding the worm or selling them to
food companies (in Asia, fried or dried silkworms
are a very popular snack). According to People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA),
approximately 3,000 worms are killed to make
every pound of the fabric, though there is no data
as to those worms going to waste or not.
Another ethical debate includes the genetically
reengineering of silkworms to produce a
fluorescent fabric that glows in the dark, mixing
their DNA with the ones from corals or jellyfish,
or creating transgenic worms that produce spider
silk or even human collagen.
 
why sericulture?
Sericulture is one of the labor-intensive
Cottages industries involving mulberry
cultivation, silkworm rearing and egg production,
reeling and weaving of the loom and other post
cocoon processes like twisting, dyeing, painting
, finishing etc. along with the utilization of by
products, offering a most promising alternative
agricultural activity. Sericulture is a way of life in
India. Sericulture promotes self-employment and
other livelihood activities in the rural economy and
helps to accelerate income and provides
employment opportunities to 35 million people and
is practiced in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir and West Bengal
(Mulberry Silk) Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh
and North-Eastern States (Non-Mulberry Silk).
Silk is the fiber that silkworms weave to make them
cocoons – outer casings that protect them during
the pupal stage. But most of the insects used by
the silk industry doesn’t live past this stage, because
they are boiled or gassed alive inside their cocoons,
which causes the cocoons to begin unravelling so
that workers can obtain the silk threads. Some
6,600 silkworms are killed to make just 1 kilogram of
silk. At silk-production facilities in India, silkworms
who are allowed to mature into moths fare little
better than those who were boiled alive inside them
cocoons. After they have laid their eggs, female
moths are crushed to death and their bodies are
checked under a microscope for diseases. If any
disease is found, the eggs are destroyed. Male
moths are simply discarded after they mate.
It’s not uncommon to see birds pecking at baskets
full of male moths left outside of silk-production
facilities. Although worms can’t show their distress
in ways that humans easily recognize, anyone who
has ever seen earthworms become startled when
their dark homes are uncovered must acknowledge
that worms are sensitive. They produce endorphins
and have a physical response to pain.
There are also reports of the use of child labor in
the silk industry. According to the non-profit
organization Human Rights Watch, which has
investigated India’s silk trade, children – some
as young as 5 years old – are forced to work inside
the factories and workshops that produce silk
thread. Some must immerse their hands in vats
of scalding water to palpate the cocoons, causing
their skin to become raw and blistered. Children
who wind the silk into strands often suffer from
cuts that go untreated and can become infected.
why I chose sericulture?
We live in a time where people are aware and know
the consequences of their choices or at least that’s
what they strive to be. With proper guidance and
spread of facts, the right amount of change can be
easily brought in the world. Its no more a planet
where we without considering the effects of our
actions, keep working solely because we like it. It
is high time we understand that pain is the same
for all living things. We shriek in pain even if a
droplet of boiling water falls on us. Imagine an
entire human community being boiled to death only
because some bigger and more destructive species
wants to wear a shiny saree. The idea itself is
terrorizing. Hence , I want people to accept the idea
of thinking. Thinking before taking an action, making
sure if the same thing is done to us, we’ll be okay with
it, is the first step towards change.
concept:
In this project of mine, my main target is to get
attention towards a more sustainable and
ecofriendly style of living. What seems like a
choice to us is worth many lives of tiny silkworms.
I hope to bring a change in the mindsets of people
and to enlighten those who don’t know about the
safer alternatives to this. This is a world of conscious
fashion and I believe no stone should be left
Unturned. Through this people will realize the
unnecessary brutality done to innocent creatures.
We need to understand that their lives are not ours
to take. We are the borrowers here and we stand no
right to be cruel to nature. Hence, my sole purpose is
to portray it via my installation.
ahimsa silk
Ahimsa silk is a method of non-violent silk breeding
and harvesting. Wild silk moths are bred, rather
than the domestic variety. It allows the completion
of the metamorphosis of the silkworm to its moth
stage, whereas most silk harvesting requires the
silkworms to be killed in their cocoon stage. No
animals suffer or die for the silk to be produced,
making it a favorable alternative to normal silk for
those who do not believe in harming animals.

Ahimsa Silk method was invented in the early 2000s

by Kusuma Rajaiah. Rajaiah is a firm believer in
Mahatma Gandhi and the principles of non-violence.
He invented the method for producing silk using an
eco-friendly way and without the need for killing the
silk worms. He holds both a Patent (Application
Number 217/MAS/2002) and a Trademark (Application
Number 1495100, Class 24) for Ahimsa Silk from
the Government of India
alternatives
for silk
Silk is generally produced by boiling the cocoons
of the silk worm. There are several synthetic,
silk-silk alternatives, but these are typically
derived from non-renewable sources and can
take centuries to degrade at the end of them
use. These biodegradable, plant-based fibers
produce interesting, cruelty-free silk-like
fabrics that can satisfy textile fanatics and
animal lovers alike.
1.Lotus silk
2.Spider silk
3.Ramie
4.Art silk
5.Milkweed fiber
6.Bamboo silk
7.Synthetic spider silk
8.Nylon
9.Polyester
10.Rayon
11.Ahimsa silk
Why is it not
yet popular?
The biggest reason for ahimsa silk or cruelty free
silk not being popular is lack of awareness.
Most people have no idea about the whole
issue. After talking to many people who are
silk consumers, I have realized that many
people don’t even know the cruelty behind the
making of silk. It might sound made up but
it’s the bitter truth. For people to know that a
safer and healthy option exists, we need to
spread the much-needed awareness. Other
than this, the fact that it takes longer to make
and is more tedious is why it’s not as popular
among the harvesters. The longer treatment
results in the cost becoming almost double too
mind map
A mind map is a diagram used to visually organize
information. A mind map is hierarchical and
shows relationships among pieces of the whole.
It is often created around a single concept,
drawn as an image in the center of a blank page,
to which associated representations of ideas
such as images, words and parts of words are
added. Major ideas are connected directly to the
central concept, and other ideas branch out
from those major ideas.

Mind maps can also be drawn by hand, either

as "notes" during a lecture, meeting or planning
session, for example, or as higher quality
pictures when more time is available. Mind maps
are considered to be a type of spider diagram
Key words
1.costlier
2.better fall
3.hand washable
4.softer
5.less sheen
6.religion appealing
7.natural alternatives
8.man-made alternatives
9.industrial requirements
10.natural requirements
11.manpower
12.Kusuma rajaiah
13.eco friendly
14.conscious fashion
15.sustainable
16.cruelty free
Visual research
Visual research is a qualitative research
methodology that relies on the use of artistic
mediums to "produce and represent
knowledge." These artistic mediums include,
but are not limited to: film, photography,
drawings, paintings, and sculptures.
After exploring the key words, I chose five major
keywords to further research about and find
pictures related to them. The terms I chose are:

1.Eco friendly
2.Conscious fashion
3.Sustainable
4.Cruelty free
5.Alternatives
Eco friendly
Eco friendly literally means friendly towards the
environment. Something that is safe and does
not harm anyone or anything.
Carbon neutral
Ecological
Environmental
Safe
conscious fashion
Conscious fashion, also called eco fashion, ethical
fashion, or sustainable fashion, is a part of the
growing design philosophy and trend of
sustainability, the goal of which is to create a system
which can be supported indefinitely in terms of
human impact on the environment and social
responsibility. It can be seen as an alternative
trend against fast fashion.
Sustainable
Sustainability is the ability to exist constantly. In
The 21st century, it refers generally to the
capacity for the biosphere and human
civilization to coexist. It is also defined as the
process of people maintaining change in a
homeostasis balanced environment, in which the
exploitation of resources, the direction of
investments, the orientation of technological
development and institutional change are all in
harmony and enhance both current and future
potential to meet human needs and aspirations.
Continual
Viable
Imperishable
Cruelty free
(of cosmetics or other commercial products)
manufactured or developed by methods which
do not involve cruelty to animals.
Altruistic
Charitable
Generous
Great hearted
Humanitarian
Alternatives
one of two or more available possibilities.
Substitute
Replacement
Another
Back up
Option