Daily Weird News Report
Carolyn, a woman in her 70s whose surname was withheld for privacy reasons, has been buried in New South Wales in a coffin grown from fungi and hemp fibres—an Australian first reported by The Guardian.
Friends and family held her funeral on Friday at Springwood Cemetery in the Blue Mountains. Her husband, Donald, said the choice reflected Carolyn’s belief in helping others and giving back to nature, according to the report.
The coffin was made by Dutch company Loop Biotech. Rather than being assembled from conventional materials, it was grown in a mould inside a climate-controlled room. The company says the mycelium—the network of fungal roots—combined with hemp fibres forms the casket in about a week.
Once buried, the coffin is expected to break down in roughly 45 days and become part of the soil. The process is described as similar to composting, with the coffin and body biodegrading and contributing nutrients to the ground. By comparison, a traditional wooden coffin can take up to 50 years to decompose. The mushroom coffins weigh about 30 kilograms and can be lined with moss.
Loop Biotech founder Bob Hendrikx said thousands of people in Europe and the United States had already used the coffins. He said shipping them to Australia had previously been more difficult, despite interest in the country.
Hendrikx hopes the coffins will help make Australia’s funeral industry more sustainable by shortening the time required for decomposition. The report also noted that about 70% of Australians choose cremation, a process estimated to produce emissions equivalent to 125 kilograms of carbon dioxide per cremation.
Other lower-impact funeral options available in Australia include alkaline hydrolysis, natural burials without embalming and shallow burials. Dr Hannah Gould, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Melbourne, said interest in environmentally focused funerals has been growing as people consider alternatives to traditional religious approaches to death and burial.
