Afterlife

Useful information

Team members: Chardé Brouwer
Country: Netherlands
Keywords: Material biodegradable earth sustainability new life flowers left overs death

Short Description

What if our last breath could be one of giving back?

Detailed Description

A funeral takes its toll on the environment. What if our last breath could be one of giving back? How beautiful would it be to support nature as we pass on, to give our body back to the earth and help nourish it? To create a moment of passing that is not only emotionally meaningful but also manifests itself in the physical world.

The answer to this is Afterlife: a new wearable material that is completely biodegradable created out of leftovers from the food industry and infused with flower seeds. As we pass on, the earth can still use our body to feed on. By combining our body with the Afterlife material, we transform an end into a beginning, creating a greater purpose after death. Shifting the definition of a cemetery into something less grim, for example, a forest or park, where the ones we loved, and their offspring, could walk, play and enjoy. We can create a new biodiversity.

Project Details

Does your design support sustainable production, embodying circular or regenerative design practices?: Afterlife is made from the remains of the food industry. Any expired leftovers, i.e. orange juice, beetroot and grape juice, serve as the base of the material. The material is dried in the open air, so no machines are involved. By using your own body after death combining with seeds, a new biodiversity is created. This makes it circular.

Does your design promote awareness of responsible design and consumption?: By showing what we can achieve in a simple way with our own passing, we show that we can all be sustainable and can even take responsibility with our death in promoting biodiversity. By making use of past-due residus, the values of a waste product become more valuable.