Bestattung Wien and the Vienna cemeteries presented these at the Vienna Central Cemetery on Friday as part of a media event “world first”.
The burial can take place in any earthen grave or in the newly created, natural area of the cemetery – and this is where European hamsters live, which should not be expelled under any circumstances. The idea for the Sargnovum came from the 28-year-old architect and inventor Bob Hendrikx from the Netherlands. It was about him “return to the cycle of life”, he explained in the APA interview. And the “without polluting the environment with toxins from the body and the coffin”. For the architect and biodesigner, this is the “most natural way to be buried”.
Body decomposes faster
The material feels light, soft and warm and looks like styrofoam at first glance. The invention decomposes the body faster, turning it into valuable compost. No CO2 is produced during the growth process of the coffin material, toxins are neutralized during composting and the soil is regenerated.
This happens because of the mycelia, the underground root system of fungi. This network of mushrooms native to Europe is produced directly in a suitable fit in seven days without the use of heat, electricity or light and then dried, effectively halting growth. If the material comes into contact with soil or water, it will be revived. The white and gray one “Living Cocoon” (living cocoon) is itself as light as a feather, but can also carry a weight of 200 kilograms and dissolves together with its contents in a few months. It is lined with moss – or, if desired, with linen.
A coffin costs 990 euros
For Hendrikx, mushrooms are the “greatest recycler of nature”. Several hundred of his coffins have already been used in his homeland, and he himself sees his eternal resting place as the one that is now also possible here in Vienna-Simmering. In the Netherlands he is still producing the copies used in the Danube metropolis, which cost 990 euros, but in the future it will be produced in the country of use.
“We are proud to be able to offer this new coffin exclusively”says Jürgen Sild, Managing Director of funeral Vienna. “For centuries, people were mainly buried in wooden coffins, for this new one “ultimate natural burial” no more trees would have to be felled. Since a suitable burial site is also needed, the managing director of the Vienna cemeteries, Renate Niklas, presented the new natural burial group at the same time. Only organic coffins and urns without metal or synthetic components are used here. Here, a funeral service is then also possible in the open air.
the funeral Vienna is the exclusive distributor of the coffin from the Dutch start-up manufacturer Loop Biotech, it can not only be used in special natural burial facilities, but also for conventional burials.
Source: Nachrichten
