GROW YOUR OWN COFFIN

A Dutch startup is harnessing the properties of mushrooms and moss to help dead people become one with nature

- SIPHOKAZI ZAMA

IT LOOKS like a cross between wet toilet paper, Styrofoam and plaster of Paris and it's light and soft to the touch. Yet it's sturdy enough to carry a body that weighs 200kg and is dignified enough to be carried into a funeral service before a loved one is laid to rest.

It's the final resting part that particularly interested Dutch entrepreneurs Lonneke Westhoff and Bob Hendrikx when they tried to come up with an eco-friendly solution for burials while studying at Delft University of Technology (DUT). They wanted to find a solution that could be better for the environment in the longer term than traditional caskets.

The pair came up with what they call living coffins - vessels essentially made of mushrooms and hemp. The coffins are made from mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms, which is combined with hemp fibres. They decompose faster than conventional coffins and they also absorb any toxins left behind from the body inside it.

Mycelia are the recyclers of nature, Bob says. "They neutralise all kinds of toxic substances while providing nutrition to everything that grows above the ground at the same time. So everything that turns into death, they turn it into life."

For the burial, the coffin can be lined with moss to provide decoration but also has an extra green feature. "The moss helps decompose the body faster in rich biodiversity and it gives humans the experience of becoming the part of the cycle of life, Bob says.

ONE coffin takes about a week to grow. The mycelium and hemp fibres are placed in a mould then slowly dried in a growing chamber so it can hold its shape.

Drying mycelium puts it in a state of dormancy and makes it stiff but adaptable, Bob Ursem, scientific director of the botanical garden at the DUT, told Wired magazine. When it's back in a suitable environment it becomes active again.