Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust…
As with all things in nature, life is a cycle. Plants and flowers are born in spring, grow to their peak in summer, and slowly die come fall and winter. Unfortunately, unlike the beautiful perennials that may adorn your garden, humans only get one shot at their time on Earth…until now.
Straight out of Cinderella’s mother in Into the Woods, one startup is trying to change the way we look at death and make the world a better, greener place in the process. Their idea? Instead of graves, plant trees.
The catch? There are dead humans at the roots.
This company has redesigned the coffin with the belief that death “is not the end, but the beginning of a way back to nature.”
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Source: Facebook @Capsula Mundi
Start the slideshow below to learn more about the advantageous plans of Capsula Mundi and how they want to change our perception of life, death, and rebirth, then SHARE!
The Mission
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Source: Facebook/ Capsula Mundi
According to their website, “Capsula Mundi is a cultural and broad-based project, which envisions a different approach to the way we think about death.”
The Creators
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Source: capsulamundi.it
Capsula Mundi is the collaborative effort of Italian designers Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel, who are both dedicated to combining material and form with the “emotional impulse” behind a project. Bretzel also states his respect for ecological ethics, which he says mass production rarely respects.
The Container
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Source: Facebook @Capsula Mundi
Citing the egg as an ancient and “perfect” form, the designers of Capsula Mundi felt it was the perfect inspiration for returning humans back to nature after death, as well as to help people remember their loved ones while bringing them closer to nature.
Their idea? To bury humans or ashes inside of egg-shaped capsules and then plant the seeds for a tree — elected by somebody before their death — above the pod, which the deceased’s family and friends could then take care of over time.
A New Beginning
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Source: Facebook/ Capsula Mundi
“In a culture far removed from nature, overloaded with objects for the needs of daily life and focused on youth, death is often dealt with as a taboo. We believe that this unavoidable passage, so meaningful, is not the end, but the beginning of a way back to nature.”
Trees for Tombstones
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Source: Facebook/ Capsula Mundi
So, why plant trees instead of using tombstones? The designers believe that a green graveyard goes beyond cultural traditions and connects us to something larger: Nature’s cycle of transformation.
Capsula Mundi’s website points out that in order to make a coffin, which is only seen for several days, entire trees must be cut down, therefore wasting the decades it took for that tree to mature and slowly destroying our planet. To them, traditional graveyards are akin to parking lots. Furthermore, Capsula Mundi’s containers are 100% biodegradable, coming in larger sizes for corpses in fetal position or small sizes for a person’s ashes.
A Sacred Forest
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Source: Facebook/ Capsula Mundi
What Capsula Mundi envisions is a greener Earth where humans can find solace for their lost loved ones amidst dense forests, filled with the stories, trees, and memories of others.
“Only a tree, a symbol of the connection between the sky and the earth, will mark the resting place of the deceased. As tree after tree is planted, the cemetery will become a forest, […] a place of nature, […] In short, it will become a sacred forest.”
What do you think about Capsula Mundi’s project? Is this a beautiful and poetic return to nature that ensures a greener future for the planet, or some strange sacrilege from sci-fi? I could definitely get down with this idea. After all, the most beautiful graveyards are usually filled with natural beauty.
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