A number of September’s newspapers and online sites tended to repeat stories of the Living Cocoon designed by Loop. The central question was: Why settle for a non-environmentally friendly traditional casket that normally takes more than 10 years to decompose when you can select a Living Cocoon, a coffin made from mushrooms that returns the deceased to the earth while enriching the earth?
We continue to learn more about how fungi
can play a role in our life...and death.
Production with living materials looks quite different than traditional production of products. First of all, the coffin isn’t really produced, but grown! The mycelium grows in the Loop Cocoon mold, which is filled wood chips, allowing the mycelium to grow and act as a self-assembling biological binder. After seven days the mycelium has grown into the complete shape of the coffin, after which it’s naturally dried. This stops its growth and gives the coffin its strength. The result is a unique, waterproof coffin that will only continue to grow again after long exposure to groundwater which reactivates the mycelium, and it becomes one with nature within 45 days.
Stop! Don’t even think of looking for the Living Coffin on Amazon yet. Currently, it is only available from two funeral companies in the Netherlands where it is a less expensive burial option, currently costing just under $2,000 US. But, stay tuned. Things can change fast in this COVID world!