The living coffin
(Image: Walk)
You may not be thinking about it at all right now, but it could just be that your final resting place is made of living beings. Scientists have designed a coffin that consists entirely of living fungi. ‘The living coffin’ ensures that you are returned to nature without any pollution.
The concept is one of the first products of the Dutch startup Loop. The design company tries to use the unique properties of living things in a creative way. The coffin has the name The Living Cocoon and is made of mycelium. This is a mix of residues created by the lower parts of a mushroom. For example the roots, trunk and branches.
How mycelium works
When mushrooms reproduce, they release spores into the air. When those spores land on a suitable surface, they leave fungal threads behind. As these threads grow, they create webs called mycelium. Depending on time, resources and circumstances, mycelium can grow enormous. The largest web ever measured consists of 2,384 hectares (!) The huge network has been labeled the largest living organism in the world. Mycelium is nature’s recycle bin. While they feed, the fungal threads release enzymes that convert remains of, for example, wood, plants and living creatures into a liquid. A coffin made of mycelium can therefore easily and quickly dispose of the human remains it contains.
In the video below you can see how mycelium grows and digests a pear. Be warned: they are not very tasty images!
The added value of a living coffin
Traditional ways of burying the dead – in wooden and metal coffins – leave an indelible mark on the planet and pollute the soil or the air. According to founder Bob Hendrikx, a mycelium box ensures that in theory the dead enrich the soil with new substances. It could just turn a polluted cemetery into a thriving forest.
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The Living Cocoon is actually more than a coffin. For Hendrikx it is the first step in establishing an equal relationship between humans and nature. In addition to the mycelial boxes, he is working on growing giant pods that he believes could be inhabited by humans in the future. In theory, ‘pod houses’ can be converted into compost over time, so that they return nutrients to the soil. “We miss out on many opportunities by killing intelligent organisms and turning them into a bench, for example. We made a piece of wood from this thousand-year-old species; we are good at that”, Hendrikx told Wired. “Nature has been here for billions of years, and we have been here for a few thousand years. So why not work together?”
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Resting among the fungi: future coffin made of mushrooms