France welcomes its first bicycle-hearse

[cawimmer430]

Kill me now before my corpse is forced to embarrass itself in this piece of pathetic crap. 🤮

When I die I want my hearse to be an elegant 1960s Cadillac with a gas-guzzling V8 - STYLE. 



France welcomes its first bicycle-hearse

An unusual-looking cargo bike is attempting to shake up the funeral business in France.

The 'Corbicyclette', a mash-up of the French words for hearse and bicycle, is the brainchild of Isabelle Plumereau.

She runs a small funeral home called 'The Sky and the Earth' in Paris.



Her new cargo bike is designed to take full-sized coffins, in the place of traditional, motor-driven hearses.

"The Corbicyclette is to propose a new ritual for families that I accompany, especially at the cemetery," says Plumereau, adding it allows for "a slow, silent, quiet procession, to the rhythm of the steps of the people who walk behind and who make the procession."

"I am as attached to the form as to the substance," she continued. "For me, it is very important to accompany the families by giving them meaning in the ceremony, but also by giving them beauty. Because beauty is what will also bring comfort."

Isabelle's company hopes to integrate sustainable principles into the funeral industry.

Similar 'Corbyiclettes' already exist in the United States and Denmark.

Her version is two metres long and has electric assistance, which enables it to tackle steeper roads. This cargo bike would be the first in France and its services should be available this autumn.


What is the environmental impact of burials and cremation?

Around 55.4 million people died in 2019, according to the World Health Organisation.

The mourning process is a crucial part of death, but it can also take an environmental toll.

The chemicals used for embalming a body are damaging to the environment and leak out into the soil when a person has been buried.

Cremation releases harmful gases like mercury and the process itself uses natural gas and takes around three hours. In the US CO2 emissions from cremations exceeded 360,000 metric tonnes in 2020.

Add in the materials used for coffins and the emissions of those travelling to a funeral and the environmental footprint of dying is not insignificant.




How can we make funerals more eco-friendly?

Environmentally friendly funeral options are becoming increasingly popular.

In the US a body-composting process called terramation has been legalised in certain states.

It uses organic reduction to convert bodies into soil.

Corpses are placed in airtight vessels and surrounded by a bulking mixture of alfalfa and sawdust.

These organics quickly accumulate and retain heat naturally, avoiding the costly fossil fuel expenditure of conventional crematoriums.



Link: https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/11/01/france-welcomes-its-first-bicycle-hearse

[veeman]

It would be better if the coffin was behind the bicyclist.  Plus then the bicyclist would be able to see in front.  It says it has electrical assistance for steep roads.  I doubt she could move the coffin with her own power alone if the road had even a 5 degree incline. 

[giant_mtb]

Yeah it's kind of weird having the rider in the back...the people in a procession don't wanna see some lady pedaling a bike the whole way to the cemetery...they wanna follow their deceased loved one and not see what/who is moving the casket.

[shp4man]

LOL.

[cawimmer430]

It would be better if the coffin was behind the bicyclist.  Plus then the bicyclist would be able to see in front.  It says it has electrical assistance for steep roads.  I doubt she could move the coffin with her own power alone if the road had even a 5 degree incline. 

The whole concept is just retarded.

What's wrong with a gasoline/diesel-powered classic hearse?

[Morris Minor]

Yeah it's kind of weird having the rider in the back...the people in a procession don't wanna see some lady pedaling a bike the whole way to the cemetery...they wanna follow their deceased loved one and not see what/who is moving the casket.

She's probably recognizing that the rider's physical attributes are important though; even when grieving, one does not lose one's eye for a nice arse... eases the pain of mourning.

[Soup DeVille]

The whole concept is just retarded.

What's wrong with a gasoline/diesel-powered classic hearse?

Ideally, one would burn the corpse to power a small steam engine. Then, the procession could go on until the burial was not necessary.

[Morris Minor]

Ideally, one would burn the corpse to power a small steam engine. Then, the procession could go on until the burial was not necessary.

Taking it a bit further... the hearses' IC engines could run off methane from corpse putrefaction. So mourners would effectively be following a fermentation vessel.

[Laconian]

Use the chemical energy of the deceased to power a full day of funeral games.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Pure genius. Let's start a CarSPIN funeral home.

[cawimmer430]

Ideally, one would burn the corpse to power a small steam engine. Then, the procession could go on until the burial was not necessary.

Please propose this to the EU - burning corpses could be a cheap energy source for the shit hole EU!

[giant_mtb]

Please propose this to the EU - burning corpses could be a cheap energy source for the shit hole EU!

...when a German makes a joke about burning dead bodies...

[cawimmer430]

...when a German makes a joke about burning dead bodies...

Oh shit!

My bad...

[Soup DeVille]

Well, this got awkward...