Capsula Mundi – Transforming Cemeteries

Capsula Mundi is an idea that was waiting to be discovered. In 2015 China had 1,361,512,535 people, India had 1,251,695,584. With a world population sitting at  7,259,902,243 there is major concern that with so many people clamouring for resources we can’t possibly have a healthy and prosperous future. Countries with small populations are becoming bitter as they have to share their carefully guarded resources with those countries with little regard to population control.

Enter Capsula Mundi.

Capsula Mundi – Something Beautiful

Imagine all these billions of people being buried in the traditional way adding to the dismal rows of hard, grey marble headstones as far as the eye can see. Imagine all the toxins entering our soils.

No wonder the environmentally friendly funeral industry is flourishing in the 21st century. People with a conscience are seriously considering the impact their bodies and coffins have on the environment once they’re dead. Up until recently, unlimited amounts of metal, varnished wood and embalming fluids have been put into the earth.

Capsula MundiMercifully there are people who try to make things more beautiful, and an Italian design company known as Capsula Mundi is one.

They want to make funerals and cemeteries greener. Instead of rows of hard grey concrete they want to turn cemeteries into forests of trees, each tree representing a dead person.

Your Spirit Lives on in a Tree

Designers, A.Citelli and R. Bretzel came up with a clever idea. They made an oval shaped burial pod made from biodegradable materials. The plastic is made from organic material and has a low environmental impact. The transformation process brings the body to mineralization. These minerals will provide nourishment for the tree.

The body, in its pliable state, will be laid in a foetal position in a larger pod. The pod will then be buried as a seed in the earth. Of course, the tree species will have been selected by the deceased. This tree will be planted on top of it, serving as a memorial for the departed.

The family will be able to ‘see’ the deceased in the tree as it grows. They will maintain and shape the tree as they want. The trees won’t be marked in any way. Each tree will be plotted on a GPS system for easy location. Instead of seeing cemeteries of hard, grey tombstones, you’ll now see a forest of living, swaying Oak, Birch, Willow, Beech, Pine and other trees.

A Living, Sacred Memorial

Because of rules and regulations surrounding burials and cemeteries the burial pod hasn’t yet taken off. There are people who also question the goodness of a tree ‘feeding’ on a decomposing body. Apart from this aspect though it is the aspect of living trees which provide oxygen as apposed to unattractive tombstones which is the appealing factor.

The Capsula Mundi is not available around the world yet. The team is still busy researching and investigating. They require additional time to start the redistribution process and sales of the products. They are also researching the burial laws in different regions because of legalities. But anything that is gentler on the environment should be well received.

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All info was correct at time of publishing