Netherlands: Mushroom Coffins Turn Bodies into Compost

This handout picture released by the biotech company Loop on September 15, 2020 shows the "living cocoon", a coffin made from mycelium which allows a fast-composting of the body. (Photo by Handout / Loop Biotech / AFP)
This handout picture released by the biotech company Loop on September 15, 2020 shows the "living cocoon", a coffin made from mycelium which allows a fast-composting of the body. (Photo by Handout / Loop Biotech / AFP)
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Netherlands: Mushroom Coffins Turn Bodies into Compost

This handout picture released by the biotech company Loop on September 15, 2020 shows the "living cocoon", a coffin made from mycelium which allows a fast-composting of the body. (Photo by Handout / Loop Biotech / AFP)
This handout picture released by the biotech company Loop on September 15, 2020 shows the "living cocoon", a coffin made from mycelium which allows a fast-composting of the body. (Photo by Handout / Loop Biotech / AFP)

In the Netherlands you can keep helping the planet after you die -- by opting for a living coffin made of mushrooms which speeds up the decomposition of your body.

The coffin turns corpses into compost that enriches the soil thanks to mycelium, the root structure of fungi.

The "Living Cocoon" is a world first, according to Bob Hendrikx, who invented the idea in his student laboratory at Delft Technical University.

"This is the world's first living coffin, and actually last Saturday the first human being in the Netherlands was composted and returned into the cycle of life," he told AFP.

The coffin was the final resting place for an 82-year-old woman, whose body will decompose within two to three years.

If a traditional coffin with varnished wood and metal handles is used, the process normally takes more than ten years.

The casket itself will meanwhile disappear within 30 to 45 days.

"It's actually an organism, so it's made from mycelium which is the root structure of mushrooms," Hendrikx said. "They're the biggest recyclers in nature".

"This is the most natural way to do it... we no longer pollute the environment with toxins in our body and all the stuff that goes into the coffins but actually try to enrich it and really be compost for nature."

The coffin is the same size and shape as a classic coffin but its pale color is typical of mycelium.

Inside is a bed of moss where the body -- and various insects and other soil creatures -- will lie.

Overall the coffin is much lighter than a wooden casket. It's also cheaper, currently costing around 1,500 euros.

Making the coffins requires a bit of foraging, first for moss from the forest, then collecting mycelium from mushrooms, and then mixing that with woodchips.

"Slowly in seven days, it's actually pretty fast, it will grow into a solid material that is actually an organism," said Hendrikx.

"Afterwards it's naturally dried by literally removing the mould and just letting it be. So then the mycelium, the organism, becomes inactive.

"When it's in the ground, it starts to get activated again when a lot of moisture hits the organism. Then it starts the decomposition process."

Hendrikx's inspiration didn't stem from a ghoulish fascination with bodies or human compost, but from serendipity.

Fascinated by the applications of mushrooms, he first tried to make a "living house" for his thesis.

But when someone asked what would happen with the body of his grandmother if he left her inside the house, Hendrikx had a brainwave.

That has now become a start-up, called Loop, which has signed a deal with a funeral home, while also causing a stir on social media.

"Looking at the reactions we had online, we're pretty sure it's going to be a big hit," he said.



First Skydiver to Fall Faster than the Speed of Sound Dies in Crash in Italy, City’s Mayor Says

Austria skydiver Felix Baumgartner holds the Laureus World Action Sportsperson trophy as he poses for pictures during the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 11, 2013. (AP)
Austria skydiver Felix Baumgartner holds the Laureus World Action Sportsperson trophy as he poses for pictures during the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 11, 2013. (AP)
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First Skydiver to Fall Faster than the Speed of Sound Dies in Crash in Italy, City’s Mayor Says

Austria skydiver Felix Baumgartner holds the Laureus World Action Sportsperson trophy as he poses for pictures during the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 11, 2013. (AP)
Austria skydiver Felix Baumgartner holds the Laureus World Action Sportsperson trophy as he poses for pictures during the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 11, 2013. (AP)

Extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner, the first skydiver to fall faster than the speed of sound during a 24-mile leap through the stratosphere more than a decade ago, died in a crash Thursday along the eastern coast of Italy, according to an official where the crash occurred. He was 56.

Italian firefighters who responded said a paraglider crashed into the side of a swimming pool in the city of Porto Sant Elpidio.

The city's mayor, Massimiliano Ciarpella, confirmed Baumgartner's death in a social media post.

“Our community is deeply affected by the tragic disappearance of Felix Baumgartner, a figure of global prominence, a symbol of courage and passion for extreme flight," the mayor said.

Baumgartner, known as “Fearless Felix,” stunned the world in 2012 when he became the first human to break the sound barrier with only his body. He wore a pressurized suit and jumped from a capsule hoisted more than 24 miles (39 kilometers) above Earth by a giant helium balloon over New Mexico.

The Austrian, who was part of the Red Bull Stratos team, topped out at 843.6 mph — the equivalent of 1.25 times the speed of sound — during a nine-minute descent.

“When I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble, you do not think about of breaking records anymore, you do not think of about gaining scientific data. The only thing you want is to come back alive,” he said after landing in the eastern New Mexico desert.

The altitude he jumped from also marked the highest-ever for a skydiver, shattering the previous record set in 1960 by Joe Kittinger, who served as an adviser to Baumgartner during his feat.

Baumgartner’s altitude record stood for two years until Google executive Alan Eustace set new marks for the highest free-fall jump and greatest free-fall distance.

In 2012, millions watched YouTube’s livestream as Baumgartner coolly flashed a thumbs-up when he came out of the capsule high above Earth and then activated his parachute as he neared the ground, lifting his arms in victory after he landed.

He later said traveling faster than sound is “hard to describe because you don’t feel it.”

“Sometimes we have to get really high to see how small we are,” he said.