In the Netherlands you can help the planet even after you die — by opting for a “living coffin” made of mushrooms, which speeds up the decomposition of your body.
The coffin turns corpses into compost that enriches the soil thanks to mycelium, the root structure of fungi.
The “Living Cocoon” is a world first, says Bob Hendrikx, who invented the concept in his student laboratory at Delft Technical University.
Photo: AFP
“This is the world’s first living coffin, and actually last Saturday the first human being in the Netherlands was composted and returned into the cycle of life,” he said.
The coffin was the final resting place for an 82-year-old woman, whose body is to decompose within two to three years.
If a traditional coffin with varnished wood and metal handles is used, the process normally takes more than 10 years.
The “Living Cocoon” casket would disappear within 30 to 45 days.
“It’s actually an organism, so it’s made from mycelium, which is the root structure of mushrooms,” Hendrikx said. “They’re the biggest recyclers in nature.”
“This is the most natural way to do it ... we no longer pollute the environment with toxins in our body and all the stuff that goes into the coffins, but actually try to enrich it and really be compost for nature,” he said.
His coffin is the same size and shape as a classic coffin, but its pale color is typical of mycelium.
Inside is a bed of moss where the body — and various insects and other soil creatures — would lie.
Overall the coffin is much lighter than a wooden casket. It is also cheaper, costing about 1,500 euros (US$1,768).
Making the coffins requires a bit of foraging, first for moss from the forest, then collecting mycelium from mushrooms and then mixing that with woodchips.
“Slowly in seven days, it’s actually pretty fast, it will grow into a solid material that is actually an organism,” Hendrikx said.
“Afterwards, it’s naturally dried by literally removing the mold and just letting it be. So then the mycelium, the organism, becomes inactive,” he said.
“When it’s in the ground, it starts to get activated again when a lot of moisture hits the organism. Then it starts the decomposition process,” he added.
Hendrikx’s inspiration did not stem from a ghoulish fascination with bodies or human compost, but from serendipity.
Fascinated by the applications of mushrooms, he first tried to make a “living house” for his thesis.
When someone asked what would happen with the body of his grandmother if he left her inside the house, Hendrikx had a brainstorm.
That has become a start-up, called Loop, which has signed a deal with a funeral home, while also causing a stir on social media.
“Looking at the reactions we had online, we’re pretty sure it’s going to be a big hit,” he said.
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
UNSCHEDULED VISIT: ‘It’s a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon go away,’ said Johan Helberg of the 135m container ship that run aground near his house A man in Norway awoke early on Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion. For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135m NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway. Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone. “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
RSS