The primary lens through which Jain ethics can be understood is that of Ahimsa – “non-harm”. Jains take great pains to avoid injuring human, animal, plant, and in some cases even microscopic life. To do so, Jain monks engage in practices such as sweeping their path as they walk to avoid stepping on small lifeforms, limiting the areas in which they travel to avoid causing injury to other beings (referred to as desavakasika), refraining from consuming root vegetables (as uprooting the plant kills it), and not heating water above a certain temperature to refrain from killing microorganisms, etc. While interaction/right relationships with people comes first, right relationship (as they see it) with all of life is also an important piece of living from the Jain perspective.
Ahimsa – non-harm – is central to the Jaina Vows and also features strongly in other eastern traditions such as the Yogic Tradition and Theravada Buddhism (there embedded within the category of Right Action). Jainism, uniquely (as far as I can tell), extends the principle of Ahimsa even to non-animal forms of life.
I don’t know yet what to make of practices designed to protect microorganisms, but one element of Jain practice which I have tried to adopt into my own life is attempting to live with non-harm toward plants. I want to live in harmony with all of life as much as possible, and Jain philosophy inspires me in this way. It strikes me as a part of living from a perspective of oneness.