Self-watering biodegradable urn enables trees to grow from ashes

Bios Urn|Bios Urn|Bios Urn

A Spanish company has created a biodegradable urn that is equipped with sensors and water storage to care for a new plant's life.

The Barcelona-born Bios Urn was the first product created by the company of the same name, allowing the bereaved to use a 100 percent biodegradable urn that is built with a special capsule to meet the needs of a growing tree. A prepared soil mix that contains an expansion disc and seed is placed on top of the urn, with the disc expanding to incorporate with the ashes.

The newest partner product Bios Incube is a system that allows users to create an extra connection with their urn. A sensor placed on the surface of the soil tracks and waters the tree using the five-gallon water tank inside the Bios Incube. It collects soil and environmental data and feeds back to the owner via an app.

The Bios Urn simply slots inside the Bios Incube, and the urn will biodegrade during a period of incubation to become part of the soil and subsoil. Once the tree is grown, the Bios Incube controls the size of the tree and lets the owner transplant it wherever desired. The new device only needs to be charged for 30 minutes every three weeks. The Bios Urn costs USD 145 and the new Bios Incube costs USD 550 from its website.

Environmentally friendly products have experienced a hike in popularity in recent years, with trainers made from algae harvested from waste streams and beach plastic repurposed in kitchenware hitting the market of late. What item would you like to see an environmentally friendly version created?