Unique, Meaningful and Expressive Coffins

dove“At first the coffin seemed like a plain shoebox, but then everyone started writing messages of love and pasting them on the box. Love and life overflowed. The wake became a celebration of life. Even the kids could participate… Seeing all these lovely messages was such enormous comfort.”

Traditional coffins are polished and precious vessels which are expected to remain mostly untouched. Except for a quick glance to pay respects, visitors to the wake mostly avoid being near it.

Coffins can seem foreboding, dark and alienating. Funerals, often somber and depressing, focus on loss, with little discussion of the wonderful life lived.

Celebrating Life

ECOffins are very different: they encourage mourners to express their love and loss in a way that is positive and life affirming. By allowing mourners to share messages of love directly on the coffin, the wake becomes a celebration of the deceased’s life.

Even children, who are usually bored or frightened by wakes, find that they can participate by drawing pictures and adding decorations. This helps remove some of their fear and lets them learn to see death as a part of the cycle of life.

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Expression & Healing

The end result is that each ECOffin is a unique display of creativity, love and sharing. Reading such messages is very comforting to close family and friends, helping them to heal in the knowledge of how the deceased was special and so loved.

For all mourners, being able to write a farewell message on the coffin is very meaningful. It a chance to say thanks and good-bye. Whether or not you believe in an afterlife, the process of leaving a message gives one the feeling that there has been a real communication with the person lost. It lets you express yourself in a way that is both private and public, in a setting where speaking words may be too emotional or difficult.

“I love you. I will miss you. Thanks for everything.”