Woman becomes Australia's first to be buried in a mushroom coffin
Australia's first mushroom-coffin burial took place in the Blue Mountains, as a woman was laid to rest in a mycelium-based coffin that decomposes in weeks.
The coffin, made by Dutch firm Loop Biotech, is grown from mycelium, the root network of fungi, and hemp fibres. It is formed in a mould inside a climate-controlled room and takes about a week to grow. After burial, the coffin and body biodegrade in about 45 days and become nutrient-rich soil, while a traditional wooden casket can take up to 50 years to break down.
Carolyn's husband, David, said the choice reflected his wife's values of helping others and giving back to nature. "She was always there to help others. It feels very true to who she was that even after her death, she can still do something for others while giving something back to nature," he told The Guardian.
Loop Biotech founder Bob Hendrikx said thousands of people have been buried in mushroom coffins across Europe and the United States. Interest from Australia existed years ago, but overseas shipping had initially been difficult. Hendrikx said he hopes the 30kg coffins can make Australia's funeral sector more sustainable by shortening decomposition and enriching the soil. "The body needs to just return to nature and let nature do what it's done best forever," he said.
Dr Hannah Gould, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Melbourne, said Australians are becoming increasingly interested in environmentally friendly farewells. "This idea that perhaps that you don't go up to heaven after you die, you return to the earth, has been an increasingly popular narrative around death and dying," she told The Guardian. Gould added that as people become less religious, other values, including eco-death, become more important.
The report notes about 70% of Australians choose cremation, which has a substantial environmental impact: a typical cremation emits carbon dioxide equivalent to 125kg. Among newer alternatives are alkaline hydrolysis, natural burials without embalming, and shallow burials. According to a PlanetMark analysis cited by The Guardian, a natural burial using a cardboard coffin with rope handles emits less than 10kg of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Gould also said that longer lifespans and prolonged illnesses give people more time to think about death. "They've maybe seen or organised a funeral for their parents and it hasn't gone so well," she said. "And they're now deciding that they want to do things differently. So we're seeing a huge rise in funeral planning."