The mushroom coffin promotes ecological burial

A Dutch startup called Loop Biotech has developed a coffin made from mushrooms that can degrade in less than two months, offering an eco-friendly alternative to burial.

According to the company, the raw material of the coffin is mycelium, a set of tangled filaments found at the root of mushrooms, which is combined with hemp fibers and secret ingredients to form a mass.

Then the mixture is poured into a special mold, which, after a week, turns into a structure that basically resembles a human-sized silkworm cocoon. Finally, the coffin is lined with a layer of moss.

Compared to a traditional wooden coffin, which can weigh from 80 kg to 300 kg, the “Living cocoon ring” is light and airy, weighing no more than 66 kg.

Depending on conditions, a normal coffin takes tens of years to decompose in nature. The mushroom version decomposes in six weeks, also working to decompose the body, accelerating the process by which nature can absorb the nutrients of the corpse.

In addition to the coffins, which cost around US$1,000 (just over R$5,000), the company also offers urns made of the same material to store the cremated ashes, for an average price of US$212 (about R$1,070).

“Instead of ‘we die, we just go underground,’ now there’s a new story: We can enrich the afterlife and continue to thrive as a new plant or tree,” said company founder Bob Hendrikx. Associated press. “It brings a new narrative where we can be part of something bigger than ourselves.”

For him, Loop Biotech’s caskets and urns “add value instead of polluting the soil.”

Currently, the company has the capacity to develop 500 boxes or urns per month, which are distributed throughout Europe. To date, according to Hendrikx, about 100 burials with the “living cocoon” have been made in Holland, Germany and Belgium.

The post Mushroom Coffin Promotes Green Burial first appeared on Olhar Digital.

Source: Olhar Digital