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The world’s first funeral was held in the Netherlands, where the deceased was buried in a coffin made from colonies of mushroom yarn, that is, mycelium, rather than the traditional wooden coffin, writes The Guardian.
The document was addressed to the designer of the mushroom coffin, a 26-year-old Dutch bio-designer. Bob Hendrikx has been working with musical caskets for a long time with his dedicated startup, Loop.
The runner-up model has been dubbed the Living Cocoon, the most important characteristic of which is that it decomposes much faster when placed in the ground, and even the fibers that make up the coffin further increase the nutrient content of the soil.
“We help people to become one with nature after their death. Instead of polluting, we enrich the soil, ”Hendrikx explained. He added that once in the soil, the mycelium can break down into polluting nutrients like oil, plastic or certain metals, and when used as a raw material for coffins, it also begins to break down and compost the human body.
This decomposition process with nailed wooden coffins can take up to more than a decade, while the fungal coffin is measured to absorb into the ground in six weeks and by itself helps decompose the corpse. Therefore, the total decomposition time can be reduced to 2-3 years, says the coffin designer.
So far, Loop has produced ten pieces of Live Silkworm on request. The production cost of the caskets is now 1,250 euros each, but Hendrikx expects the price to improve as the manufacturing process improves.
Coffins are made by growing the mushroom yarn colonies into a coffin shape from scratch and letting it dry on its own when ready. When placed in the ground, the mycelium immediately revives and the demolition work begins.
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