People are choosing eco-friendly funerals, and one company has introduced the ‘living coffin’

As more people seek environmentally-friendly end-of-life options, eco-friendly funeral, and greener cremation choices are gaining popularity.

These choices allow individuals to minimize their impact on the planet by returning to the earth naturally.

By reducing waste and supporting local ecosystems, green funerals offer a sustainable way to plan for the future while honoring personal and environmental values.

A UK funeral company is embracing the eco-friendly burial trend with what it calls the “world’s first living coffin.”

Unlike traditional wooden coffins, these biodegradable caskets are made from a fiber mat that includes flexible mycelium—the root network of mushrooms—along with recycled hemp plants.

The mycelium helps speed up decomposition by breaking down organic material, allowing the coffin to fully return to the earth in just 45 days.

Created by Dutch company Loop Biotech, these biodegradable coffins are grown in just seven days. They are designed to nourish the soil as they decompose with the body.

Poetic Endings, a funeral director in southeast London, became the first in the UK to offer this eco-friendly funeral option to its clients.

“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.

In December 2024, Max Leighton became the first person in the UK to be buried in a mushroom coffin.

After receiving positive feedback and recognizing the high quality, Poetic Endings permanently offered these eco-friendly coffins.

“Max believed in the ‘Wood Wide Web’—the underground fungal network that connects trees and sustains forests,” said Nick Leighton, Max’s dad.

He described the decision to use the Loop “Living Cocoon” as a natural choice, adding that it “felt right.”

Following this, GreenAcres, a UK funeral service with eco-friendly memorial parks, has expanded its offering of mushroom coffins to multiple locations, including Norfolk, Essex, Merseyside, Kent, Buckinghamshire, and Hampshire.

Loop offers eco-friendly coffins lined with moss, priced around $1,500 (£1,250), and mushroom urns for burying the ashes of loved ones, providing sustainable burial options.

“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,” said GreenAcres Managing Director Jane Kirkup.

She added that more people are opting to plant Living Memorial Trees instead of traditional granite headstones, embracing a greener way to remember loved ones.

Founded five years ago, Loop Biotech has seen increased demand for eco-friendly funeral products that are both sustainable and biodegradable.

CEO Bob Hendrikx notes that the positive response in London, where attendees at Poetic Endings’ launch event praised the products’ beauty, suggests continued growth for the company.

While Loop Biotech’s product is marketed as the “world’s first living coffin,” eco-friendly funerals have been a growing trend for years.

Italian designers Raoul Bretzel and Anna Citelli created Capsula Mundi. This eco-friendly funeral option turns the body into a tree.

The biodegradable urn holds the ashes of the deceased, which are placed inside through a hole and sealed with a cone-shaped top, Green Prophet noted.

After burial, a tree, selected by the deceased to suit the local ecosystem, is planted above the urn.

Made in Italy, each urn is unique, featuring handcrafted details, and is available in two colors: Sand and White.

The idea for Capsula Mundi was sparked in 2003 after the designers were inspired by discarded furniture at Milan’s design fair, Salone del Mobile.

The competition focused on new innovations, but little attention was given to their environmental impact or practical use.

As Bretzel explained, they began to consider projects with an environmental purpose, noting that while death is a natural part of life, it’s often overlooked at design fairs, where people tend to avoid confronting it.

Here’s Bob Hendrikx and Lonneke Westhoff discussing their eco-friendly funeral products at Loop Biotech: