Sadness along with coffins, tombstones, large graveyards, is everyone’s first thoughts when a funeral pops into a conversation. For the most part, these are considered normal things related to death and funeral proceedings. However, a company called Capsula Mundi has been experimenting with a unique burial strategy that effectively turns the deceased into a tree.
How does it work?
It is quite a simple idea behind this and the process is necessarily just a tree’s life cycle. Capsula Mundi’s specially made egg-shaped pods will act as a seed and the deceased will be placed into one of those. The pod will then be buried in the ground with a tree on top of it. Since the capsule is made from a starch plastic it is 100% biodegradable and will just breakdown by itself in the ground. The body inside will also start to degrade and transform into nutrients, which will, in turn, be absorbed by the tree roots just above.
This concept will allow loved ones to live on forevermore as part of a tree. Also, it would make burial sites, such as cemeteries, a much happier and vibrant place. Instead of having lines of gravestones, it would be a luscious memorial forest where friends and families can visit, tend to their trees, and spend time with the ones they’ve lost.
Funeral Process
The pod, which replaces the traditional coffins allows the trees to grow since they are completely organic and biodegradable. To set up this, the human body transforms into nutrients once it’s in the burial pod. At first, it may sound quite strange, but its a completely natural course. The bodies will need to be put in the pods either before or after rigor mortis since it reduces flexibility too much.
After being encapsulated in the burial pod in the fetal position, either a tree seed or an actual tree seedling would be planted above the pod. The deceased person can select the type of tree beforehand and it is a lot similar to selecting a coffin. There is a wide range of choices, but this is a lot more organic.
Biodegradable Urns
Even though this concept is becoming popular quickly, there are still certain kinks that need to be improved before it can be released fully. Until then, Capsula Mundi offers a biodegradable urn that works pretty much the same way, but with ashes for those who were cremated.
Just like the pod, the urn is buried underground with the deceased inside, a tree is then placed on top of it and over time, the capsule will degrade which allows the tree to absorb all the nutrients which once was a human being, enabling them to live on elsewhere.
I for one wouldn’t mind living on as a tree, while simultaneously helping to save the planet. Would you?
Ruvindi Ranatunga
I am an International Business Management undergraduate from the University of West London (UWL) and completed the Higher National Diploma in Business Management (SQA). Apart from my studies, I am a freelance writer.
