We publish a part of a very interesting article published by Tech Insider about Capsula Mundi and green burial!
Modern burial practices are an environmental nightmare.
Toxic chemicals from the embalming process leach into the air and soil. Caskets and burial vaults use a ton of materials. And memorial parks clear acres of land while soaking up significant amounts of water and pesticides to keep lawns green.
And cremation isn’t any better. It, too, releases noxious chemicals into the atmosphere in the process.
What, then, is the most environmentally friendly way to die?
“The best way is to allow your body to feed the earth or ocean in a way that is sustainable for future generations,” Susan Dobscha — a professor of marketing at Bentley University and editor of an upcoming book about the green burial industry, “Death and a Consumer Culture” — told Tech Insider via email.
And a team of two Italian designers have devised a concept on how to do that.
Their project, called Capsula Mundi, aims to create eco-friendly egg-shaped burial pods that will house a body in place of a casket. The corpse will be placed in the fetal position within the pod and draped in a cloth of natural fibers. The team is also designing smaller versions of these pods, which can inter ashes instead of a body.
The biodegradable package, which will be made from potato and corn starches, would then be plunged into the ground and a tree of the deceased’s choosing would be planted on top. Over time, the mixture of microbes and nutrients from the decaying corpse would feed the tree, effectively sprouting a new organism — the perfect circle of life.
