In Pittsburgh, Penn Forest Natural Burial Park manager Pete McQuillin is sponsoring a workshop to teach coffin-building.
Before taking up permanent residence, attendees can use their coffin as a coffee table, bookshelf, storage unit, or morbid talking piece.
“The idea really is to help people save money and the environment when they die,” McQuillin tells local paper Trib Live.
Penn Forest Natural Burial Park allows people to be buried in coffins made from wood, cardboard, and wicker, or for the deceased to be interred in burial shrouds made from banana leaves or other biodegradable materials.
Non-profit Green Burial Massachusetts provided the prototype for McQuillin’s coffin class. Each cost about $500 to make—much more affordable than modern caskets with price tags upwards of $5,000.