In the UK, a funeral company says they can now bury you in the ‘world’s first living coffin’, which is made out of mushrooms.
Containing no wood, the coffins are formed out of a mat of fibers including pliable mycelium—the root structure of mushrooms—and up-cycled hemp plants.
The thread-like mycelium, aids decomposition by breaking down biological matter—and it biodegrades within 45 days.
Made by Dutch company Loop Biotech, the coffins can be grown in just a week and the eco-friendly burials “feed the earth” as they mix with nutrients from the human decomposition.
Poetic Endings in southeast London, was the first funeral director in the UK to offer one of these unique coffins, having first stocked them last week.
“It is such a beautiful product,” said director Louise Winter. “It feels like nothing I have ever touched—it’s like the rind of brie.
“This is so original, I have never seen anything like it,” she told news agency SWNS.com.
The 38-year-old said they were introduced to the mushroom coffin by the family of Max Leighton, who became the first British person to be buried in one in December 2024.
After having such a successful service, and being so blown away by the product quality, Poetic Endings decided to stock them permanently.
“Max believed in the ‘Wood Wide Web’—the underground fungal network that connects trees and sustains forests,” said Nick Leighton, Max’s dad.
“It was a natural choice to lay him to rest in the Loop ‘Living Cocoon’. It wasn’t just beautiful; it felt right.”
The funeral firm GreenAcres, which operates eco-friendly Living Memorial Parks across the UK, are also now offering the mushroom coffin option in Norfolk, Essex, Merseyside, Kent, Buckinghamshire, and Hampshire.
Lined with moss, they generally cost $1,500 (£1,250). Loop also produces mushroom urns for burying the ashes of loved ones.
“The Loop Living Cocoon coffin not only avoids a heavy carbon footprint but enhances the quality of the soil, providing the most natural way to complete the circle of life,” GreenAcres Managing Director Jane Kirkup said. “People are choosing to plant a Living Memorial Tree in place of a granite headstone, too.”
Loop Biotech launched five years ago, and Bob Hendrikx, the CEO and founder, says there is “a growing demand for sustainable, biodegradable funeral products that enrich nature”.
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If the response in London is any indication, growth is inevitable. At the Poetic Endings launch event this month, people were “blown away” by how beautiful they are.
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