Behold the Ecopod: Print is Dead

By: Jim Rosenberg Those who resist to the end an all-digital future for news may now rest in peace, thanks to England’s ARKA Ecopod Ltd. Ecopod makes coffins from post-consumer recovered newspapers. The sleek, curved coffin, finished with mulberry-pulp paper, is available in two sizes and four colors, with optional screen-printed designs. They also offer models in white and varnished gold-leaf with dark red or natural-finish straps. Ecopod bills the 40-pound pods as an affordable, environmentally sensitive alternative to conventional coffins, especially for “natural-burial” sites. For those choosing cremation, Ecopod makes Acorn from recycled paper. “When I designed the Ecopod, there was no other ethical coffin on the market,” says ARKA Designer and Managing Director Hazel Selina. “I had the idea about 18 years ago, and it took me four years to find someone who could make it.” That would be business partner Peter Rock, who with his son, Gar, makes the Ecopods. Many funeral directors have resisted the Ecopod, owing to their “huge profits” on fancy coffins, says Selina. “I wanted to produce something that wasn’t dreadfully expensive and was recyclable.”