Since 2021, Loop Biotech, based in the Netherlands, has facilitated thousands of mushroom-casket burials across Europe. A service in Industry, Maine, on June 2, 2025, marked the first such burial in North America. For her father’s burial, artist Marsya Ancker selected the Loop Living Cocoon mushroom casket. Crafted entirely from mycelium (the root structure of mushrooms), the casket is grown in just seven days and completely biodegrades within 45 days of burial. This process enriches the soil and nourishes new plant life.

“Funerals can be more than endings; they can be beginnings,” said Bob Hendrikx, founder of Loop Biotech. “We created the Loop Living Cocoon to offer a way for humans to enrich nature after death. It’s about leaving the world better than we found it.”

The Ancker family’s service was supported by Wiles Remembrance Centers in Farmington, Maine, and carried out on private land. The family chose to keep the ceremony small but hopes that the story inspires others to consider more conscious, earth-friendly ways of saying goodbye. loop-biotech.com