Inventor Bob Hendriks from Eindhoven devised an environmentally friendly way to be buried: in a coffin made of mushrooms so that you become part of nature after you die. Funeral director DELA is enthusiastic and offers this coffin from now on: “It is the living coffin, the first in the whole world”, says Hendriks. “In this way we ensure that we do not pollute the earth after our death, but rather enrich it.”
With a smile on his face, Bob Hendriks arrives with his white coffin at DELA in Veldhoven. “This is him: the Walk Living Cocoon, which is made from the root threads of mushrooms.” Such a chest grows in seven days and then it can be used.
“Bob has very good ideas, but he has less knowledge of the funeral industry.”
A year and a half ago, Hendriks took his plan to the head office of the funeral company. “I told my idea and luckily they believed in it. Now we are here with a large version and the general public can opt for this box”, says a proud inventor.
At first, the living coffin was not suitable for a funeral, explains Ilse van de Voort of DELA. “Bob has very good ideas, but he has less knowledge of the funeral industry. For example, Bob had forgotten that a coffin must also be able to be worn with dignity. That problem has now been resolved.”
And so DELA has decided to offer the mushroom box from now on. “In 2030, we only want to provide climate-neutral funerals. This box fits in perfectly with that,” says Van de Voort.
“In this way we become a source of new life.”
But what about that? Why is this box better than one made of wood? “The mushroom is the largest recycler on the planet and converts everything that is dead into new life. Why not do that with ourselves? In this way we become a source of new life”, Hendriks begins.
In the soil, the coffin and body are dissolved in 45 days, the inventor explains. “In this way we return to nature in a natural and fast way. With traditional coffins, it can easily take ten years before the coffin has decayed.”
Another important difference: Hendriks’ coffin grows in seven days, with a tree that can easily take 40 to 50 years. “And everything comes from the Netherlands.”
“If you want to set something on fire, do this.”
The living coffin is also approved for use in cremations. That sounds contradictory, because during combustion the root network of mushrooms also burns and thus no new life is created. “If you want to burn a coffin, preferably this one. That is really a lot more environmentally friendly”, Hendriks responds.
At DELA they already see that there is a demand for the living coffin. “Not hundreds yet, but we’ve been asked a number of times,” says Van der Voort. “It is a more expensive box for now, with us it will cost just above a thousand euros.”
Is this the future? Van der Voort does not know that, but according to her it is a step in the right direction.