A new form of burial is intended to ensure more climate protection after death: According to the Berlin company Circulum Vitae GmbH, a dead person has been lying in a so-called cocoon, a coffin-like container for the first time in Europe since mid-February. Microorganisms and “modern green technology” turn the corpse into a kind of hummus. The so-called reburial is currently being tested in Mölln in the Lübeck-Lauenburg church district.
The “composting time” is 40 days, explains church spokesman Michael Birgden. Then the remains are removed from the cocoon and placed in a grave only 30 centimeters deep. A layer of cemetery soil is laid on top. The first “reburial” will take place at the end of March. After that, the cocoon should be processed again to start the process with another dead person.
“Even the end of life contributes to the ecological footprint of every human being,” stated the Nordkirche, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in northern Germany. Compared to cremation, the “reburial” saves a ton of CO2 for each dead person. The corpse is laid on hay, straw and flowers, then the microorganisms do the composting.
This form of burial has been offered in the USA for a year, said Pablo Metz, who co-founded Circulum Vitae GmbH. He spoke to many sides before the pilot project and they came to the conclusion that Schleswig-Holstein’s funeral law allows “reburial”.
“The idea of ’reburial’ made sense to us immediately. It’s a good alternative for anyone who feels uneasy about burial in a coffin or cremation,” says Hilke Lage, pastor of the congregation in Möllner.
(SERVICE – church district Lübeck-Lauenburg for the funeral: http://go.apa.at/fb49qojl)