A woman has been buried in a coffin made from mushrooms in New South Wales in an eco-friendly first for Australia.
asserted
woman → bury → Australia
Carolyn, whose surname was withheld for privacy reasons, was laid to rest on Friday by friends and family at Springwood Cemetery in the Blue Mountains.
asserted
surname → withhold → Mountains
The mushroom coffin, created by the Dutch firm Loop Biotech, was grown from mycelium – the root network of fungi – and hemp fibres.
asserted
coffin → create → fungi
The coffin is grown in mould in a climate-controlled room, taking just a week to fully form.
asserted
coffin → grow → week
Once buried, it takes about 45 days to become part of the soil.
asserted
it → bury → soil
The process is akin to composting, as the body and coffin gently biodegrade and transform into nutrient-rich soil in far less time than a traditional wooden casket, which can take up to 50 years to break down.
asserted
which → biodegrade → years
Carolyn’s husband, Donald, said picking the mushroom coffin aligned with his wife’s values of giving back.
asserted
picking → say → values
“She was always there to help others.
asserted
She → help → others
It feels very true to who she was that even after her death, she can still do something for others while giving something back to nature,” he said.
asserted
he → feel → nature
While Carolyn is the first to be buried in the coffin in Australia, Loop Biotech’s founder Bob Hendrikx said there had been thousands of others across Europe and the US.
asserted
Hendrikx → bury → Europe
“Five years ago when I started, there was lots of interest from Australia,” Hendrikx said.
asserted
Hendrikx → start → Australia
“It was a little bit harder to ship overseas [at the time].”
asserted
It → ship → time
Hendrikx hopes the mushroom coffins, which weigh about 30kg each, could improve the sustainability of the Australian funeral sector by shortening the decomposition process.
uncertain
which → hop → process
“It’s about giving back to nature: we have the mushroom, which is grown and dissolves into nature, but the actual benefit is that … it’s enriching the soil,” he said.
asserted
he → ’ → soil
“The body needs to just return to nature and let nature do what it’s done best forever.
asserted
it → need → what
“If a kangaroo dies in the forest, it’s just going to be part of the cycle of life.”
asserted
it → die → life
Dr Hannah Gould, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Melbourne, believes people are becoming increasingly interested in environmentally friendly farewells.
asserted
people → believe → farewells
“As people perhaps become less religious, other kinds of values or community groupings become more important, and one of those that we’ve seen is eco-death.
asserted
we → become → that
“This idea that perhaps that you don’t go up to heaven after you die, you return to the earth, has been an increasingly popular narrative around death and dying.”
asserted
you → go → death
While about 70% of Australians choose to be cremated, it has a substantial environmental impact: the emissions from a typical cremation are estimated to be equivalent to 125kg of carbon dioxide.
asserted
emissions → choose → dioxide
In recent years options such as alkaline hydrolysis (a cremation-like process that uses water instead of fire), natural burials without embalming, and even shallow burials have become available.
asserted
burials → use → embalming
A natural burial uses a cardboard coffin with rope handles and will emit less than 10kg of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to PlanetMark analysis.
uncertain
burial → use → analysis
Gould believes that as Australians are living longer and more people are dying from prolonged illnesses, more time is being spent thinking about how to depart and farewell loved ones.
asserted
time → believe → ones
“They’ve maybe seen or organised a funeral for their parents and it hasn’t gone so well,” she said.
asserted
she → see → parents
“And they’re now deciding that they want to do things differently.
asserted
they → decide → things
So we’re seeing a huge rise in funeral planning.”
asserted
we → see → planning
-
This story was amended on 7 September 2026 to correct the name of Carolyn’s husband, Donald.
asserted
story → amend → husband
The Aporia
