Wednesday, February 3, 2016

This Mushroom Burial Suit Turns Dead Bodies Into Compost

“This will help create a cultural shift toward a cultural acceptance of death and our personal responsibility for environmental sustainability.”

As you near death, consider this new option for your burial. Coeio, a New York-based company, is rolling out a new burial product that may appeal to the eco-friendly — the Infinity Burial Suit.

As you near death, consider this new option for your burial. Coeio, a New York-based company, is rolling out a new burial product that may appeal to the eco-friendly — the Infinity Burial Suit.

Coeio co-founder Jae Rhim Lee dressed in the Infinity Burial Suit.

Courtesy of Coeio

The Infinity Burial Suit uses mushroom spores to help the body to decompose.

Coeio co-founder and artist Jae Rhim Lee first came up with the concept of an eco-friendly burial over five years ago, said Lee in a 2011 TED talk.

Lee started developing the concept around the same time that studies were released exploring the number of environmental toxins introduced into our bodies through the lining in canned foods and other products.

The Center for Disease Control reported in February 2015 that people are exposed to about 265 environmental chemicals, including heavy metals and pesticides, that are later released into the environment as a body decomposes.

Lee began testing strains of edible mushrooms that could eat a decomposing body and break down those toxins released during decomposition.

Lee began testing strains of edible mushrooms that could eat a decomposing body and break down those toxins released during decomposition.

Courtesy of Coeio

Lee has studied permaculture and learned about mycoremediation, which is essentially growing mushrooms to clean the earth, she told BuzzFeed News.

She was moved by this practice that she learned in a mushroom cultivation course with Paul Stamets, the founder and president of Fungi Perfecti which is a private company that promotes the cultivation of high quality gourmet and medicinal mushrooms.

"I was inspired by the idea that mushrooms are the master decomposers of the earth and thereby the interface organ," she said.


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from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1NPY2aK

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