Green burial plans to give whole new meaning to 'family tree'

A new afterlife concept of biodegradable human seed pods may soon replace traditional coffins.

Italian designers have proposed a radical form of burial that confronts the unbearable way the modern culture deals with death, the Independent reported.

According to Italian designer duo Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel, the alternative to a conventional, environmentally unfriendly burial is to have your mortal remains folded into the foetal position, inserted into an egg-shaped capsule and planted in the ground like a giant seed pod.

As the biodegradable capsule breaks down its contents will nourish a sapling planted above it, giving a whole new meaning to the expression family tree.

The Capsula Mundi project, which is currently on display at an art gallery in Lille and will be featured at the Tedx conference in Turin in November, is still a concept at this stage.

Italian law currently forbids so-called natural burials that eschew toxic embalming fluids, favour biodegradable shrouds and caskets over wooden and metal coffins, and prefer trees to headstones.

As a result, the duo's first foray into commercial casket design will be a range of small egg-shaped capsules designed to hold the ashes from a cremation. The money raised from these mini-eggs, scheduled to go on sale early next year, will be used to fund the "scientific and legal research" that they hope will clear the way for the introduction of the full-sized Capsula Mundi.