At a recent presentation for his company, Loop Biotech, Bob Hendrikx wore a t-shirt that read, “I am compost.” With his innovative new product—coffins made from fungi—the  29-year-old founder is hoping to help people contribute to the cycle of life by facilitating a speedy return to the earth after death (a.k.a. turning their corpses into compost quickly).

Hendrikx’s invention combines mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms, with hemp fibers in a special mold that takes approximately a week to transform into what the Associated Press describes as “an unpainted Egyptian sarcophagus.” 

While wood-based coffins take years to break down, Loop Biotech’s mushroom-based coffins will biodegrade in just 45 days. The trees used to make traditional coffins also take decades to grow, whereas fungi grow fast; it takes only about seven days to create one of these sustainable 'shroom-based burial alternatives.

The company has also created a 'shroomy alternative for those planning to be cremated. Their fungi-based urn, which is created in the same manner as the casket, can be buried with a sapling sticking out of it, so that as the urn breaks down, a tree grows in its place. 

“Instead of, ‘we die; we end up in the soil; and that’s it,’ now there is a new story: We can enrich life after death, and you can continue to thrive as a new plant or tree,” Hendrikx said. “It brings a new narrative, in which we can be part of something bigger than ourselves.”

These 'shroomy burial options are relatively affordable, too. The coffin costs 995 euros (just over $1,000 USD), and the urn is priced at 196.80 euros (just over $200 USD).

At present, the Netherands-based company is only shipping within Europe, but hopefully the enthusiasm with which they are being met overseas—Hendrikx says they've really caught on in the Nordics, where people "know and understand the mushroom"—means they'll make their way stateside soon. Stay tuned!