Have you ever considered what might be a more eco-friendly alternative to coffins? How about organic burial pods where, instead of headstones, trees are planted on top. Two Italian designers–Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel– came up with up a project called Capsula Mundi, an innovative design concept with an environmental twist that addresses the exorbitant use of natural resources associated with traditional burials. Described as “the first Italian project created to promote the realization of green cemeteries in our country,” Capsula Mundi is an egg-shaped pod created to house a deceased human body in the fetal position, which eventually becomes nutrients that nourish the tree above.
Have you ever considered what might be a more eco-friendly alternative to coffins? How about organic burial pods where, instead of headstones, trees are planted on top.
Two Italian designers–Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel– came up with up a project called Capsula Mundi, an innovative design concept with an environmental twist that addresses the exorbitant use of natural resources associated with traditional burials.
Described as “the first Italian project created to promote the realization of green cemeteries in our country,” Capsula Mundi is an egg-shaped pod created to house a deceased human body in the fetal position, which eventually becomes nutrients that nourish the tree above.
Talk about getting back to your roots.
The idea is similar in nature to the biodegradable urns with a tree seed inside that Care2 shared with readers back in September only without the cremation aspect, and the biodegradable Capsula Mundi is planted like a seed in the soil with a tree seed planted on top of it instead of inside the pod.
Both propose a solution to the fact that coffin-burials and cremation alike take their toll on the environment. These projects envision cemeteries becoming forests instead of tombstone-filled lots, with not a single tree harmed in order to function as the final resting place for loved ones.
When you visit a deceased loved one at the cemetery, you would be looking at an oak tree instead of a tombstone. Or eucalyptus, or olive, and the list goes on.
The reasoning behind Capsula Mundi is simple. “To make a coffin nowadays you cut down an old tree,” the project statement reads. “A coffin has a short life span and is a product of our society. The growth of a tree needs from 10 to 40 years and a coffin is used for three days.”
To give you an idea of what we bury here in the U.S. besides our loved ones, one green burial ground cites the following figures compiled by Mary Woodsen, VP Pre-Posthumous Society of Ithaca, New York, and a science writer at Cornell University.
Through use of coffins, the United States buries every year:
- 30 million board feet of hardwoods, including exotic woods
- 827,060 gallons of embalming fluid, which includes formaldehyde
- 180,544,000 pounds of steel
- 5,400,000 pounds of copper and bronze
Continue reading at ENN affiliate, Care2.
Tree image via Shutterstock.
