What Is the Mundi Capsule?

Coffins, graves, tombstones, and everything else related to burial are so complicated and expensive! Not to mention how old and old-fashioned they are.

Or so the Italian designers Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel thought, coming up with an unconventional, extremely interesting idea, which they called The Capsula Mundi project.

The two created an organic capsule, made of a 100% biodegradable material, which, over time, turns the body of the deceased into a tree. How is that possible?

Simple! First, the body is encapsulated in the fetal position and buried in the ground. Above the capsule is planted either a seed or a seedling ready to emerge and start growing in the vegetation.

Goodbye coffin! This organic bag will turn you into a tree when you die.

In fact, when you feel that the end is near, you can choose for yourself the species of tree you want to transform into, just as, in a normal burial, you would give instructions and choose your coffin pattern.

Then, as time goes on, your body turns into nutrients that will nourish the tree, allowing it to grow uninterrupted. In essence, these capsules could, over time, replace cemeteries with forests or memorial parks, where the family could enter and care for the loved one's tree.

Unfortunately, although it is an Italian concept, this method of burial is not yet allowed in Italy, (I think the Pope of Rome had a hard word in this regard) but there are places in the United States and England where the concept is legal and is already enjoying success.

It's a topic that most people don't like to deal with, but which deserves a lot more attention: What happens to the body after death?

The idea of ​​the Italian company Capsula Mundi: a burial in egg-shaped capsules made of biodegradable materials.

"A legacy to posterity"

This tree "serves as a memorial to the deceased and as a legacy to posterity and the future of our planet," says Capsula Mundi's website. The hope: "Family and friends will continue to look after the tree as it grows."

So instead of having an area that is used exclusively for the rest of the dead and occasional visits by relatives, the two places want to create places that offer the peace of the dead, commemoration, and nature experience at the same time.

This vision includes the idea of ​​developing a GPS system that maps the locations of the trees and links them with personal digital memories of the deceased, for example, pictures, videos, and audio files - a kind of map of virtual commemoration.

The urn: the "first milestone"

For a long time the project was a theoretical one, in the summer of 2016 the inventors of “Capsula Mundi” wanted to seriously start developing a prototype and producing molds for the “eco-coffin”.

In a crowdfunding campaign, however, the amount hoped for did not come together. However, the developers are not giving up: They are now calling for donations on their website.

They have now been able to finance at least one of the Capsula Mundi products: The Capsula Mundi urn has been available for purchase in the online shop since May 2017. The capsules, some of which are handmade in Italy, cost around 400 euros and are shipped worldwide.

The developers see the urn as a “first milestone”; they want to keep working on the capsule for the whole body.

For urn burials, there has been a fundamental discussion in recent years as to whether the ashes of the dead can possibly release pollutants into the soil that are harmful to the environment. A final judgment is not yet possible and therefore no final judgment on the Capsula Mundi urn.

Regardless of the type of burial itself, it is of course much more environmentally friendly to plant a (local) tree than to make and place a tombstone. And a funeral forest, in contrast to a traditional cemetery, could offer a much higher ecological added value.

What do you think about Mundi Capsule?