Living Coffin

The worlds first "living coffin" takes care of life after death

A Netherlands-based startup has created eco-friendly fungi mycelium caskets so you can now feed the earth with your very own nutrients and become a valuable source for new life.

By Fino Menezes

4 days ago

First funeral held using ‘living coffin’ made of eco friendly mushroom mycelium

Researchers at the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands have developed the world’s first "living coffin" made from mushroom mycelium as a way to give human nutrients back to nature. Bob Hendrikx and his team at the student start-up, Loop, have created ‘The Living Cocoon’ as as way to help the body ‘compost’ more efficiently while removing toxic substances and enriching the soil where new trees and plants can grow. The first funeral to be held using one of Loop’s cocoons was conducted in the Netherlands earlier this month. Hendrikx told local media that the Living Cocoon allowed "people to become one with nature again. We can enrich the soil instead of polluting it."

Nature leads the way Mycelium is natures biggest recycler, transforming dead organic matter and pollutants into key nutrients for new seedlings. The Living Cocoon uses this power to let humans become one with nature again. Source: loop-of-life.com

Mycelium is "nature’s recycler", says Bob Hendrikx of TU Delft. Not only does it neutralise toxins and provide fresh food to everything growing above ground, but its fibres can be used to make anything from food to clothes and packaging – including coffins. "Mycelium is constantly looking for waste products – oil, plastic, metals, other pollutants – and converting them into nutrients for the environment," he said. "This coffin means we actually feed the earth with our bodies. We are nutrients, not waste." Source: Loop-of-Life.com

Mycelium normally grows underground in the complex root structure of trees, plants and fungi. It is a living organism that can neutralise all kinds of toxic substances and provides nutrition to everything that grows above the ground. For example, mycelium was used in Chernobyl, and is utilised in Rotterdam to clean up soil and some farmers also apply it to make the land healthy again. Source: Loop-of-Life.com

Helping nature take its course. The speed at which a body composts generally depends on various conditions, but experience shows that it can take over a decade. Loop expected that their coffin will be able to complete this entire process in two to three years, because it actively contributes to the composting process. In that process, not only are the waste products from the human body converted into nutrients, the quality of the surrounding soil is also improved, giving new life an opportunity to thrive. Practical tests conducted by Ecovative in America have shown that the coffin is actually absorbed by nature within 30 to 45 days, under normal Dutch conditions. Source: Loop-of-Life.com

A soft bed of moss inside the casket helps the decomposition process. Each Living Cocoon takes several weeks to form as the mycelium mat grows in the shape of a coffin and is then allowed to dry naturally. As soon as it is exposed to damp soil again it comes back to life and begins the decomposition process. Source: Loop-of-Life.com

World's first living coffin made of mycelium Source: Facebook/BrightVibes

Exhibition at Cube Design Museum

An example of a potential future design of the Loop Living Cocoon will be on display at the (Re)Design Death exhibition in the Cube Design Museum in Kerkrade from 21 September. Visitors will have the opportunity to feed the living coffin, contributing to the growth of the woods that surround it. The exhibition is devoted to the theme of saying goodbye, dying, mourning and remembrance and can be seen until 24 January 2021.

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