die green give life by palash singh from india

This concept clubs together the funeral industry and the basket making women of Zimbabwe, who are no more able to sell their baskets due to steep decline in tourism. What has come to be known as the American style funeral - with a casket made out precious wood or metal, a vault, large monument, and embalming - is the most resource intensive funeral in the world. It not only contaminates the underground water and soil but delays the decomposition process to a large extent. Because of which the land can not be reused for other purposes for many decades

On the other hand more than 33% of the population is HIV+ in Zimbabwe because of which widows(of men with HIV) and children are severely affected. Basketry craft used to be the only source of cash for these women. But because of the economic reform in 2000 and other instabilities tourism has steeply declined so there are no buyers of these basketry crafts. As a result, education of children is discontinued and women are forced to become sex workers resulting in further spread of HIV.

As a solution for both these problems all these basketry crafts and the material used in them can be very well used in manufacturing biodegradable basketry coffins. These basket coffins made of natural material like bamboo, sisal and illala palm and natural dies decompose very easily without causing any harm to the soil and water. The women artisans can use the money for the education of their children and to lead a dignified life.

Moreover, the thought that even the person’s death helped in sustaining lives of people will be quite consoling for the family in the time of grief. This burial concept will not only help in sustaining the environment but in also sustaining the lives of these women artisans and their children.A simple and elegant physical manifestation of where emotional intelligence meets not only a poetic idea, but a powerful one that touches the soul of the human condition.