Shortly before his death, Luke Perry came across an idea he instantly loved — eco-burials. According to his daughter Sophie, the late Riverdale actor made a special request. When he passed away, Perry wanted to be buried in a special eco-friendly mushroom suit. And so, when he died unexpectedly after suffering a stroke in March, the family honored his wishes.
Sophie opened up about her father’s choice on Instagram Friday, revealing that a mushroom burial suit was Perry’s idea. “Any explanation I give will not do justice to the genius that is the mushroom burial suit, but it is essentially an eco-friendly burial option via mushrooms. All I can say is that you should all look into them at coeio.com or just by googling ‘mushroom burial suit,’” Sophie wrote. “My dad discovered it and was more excited by this than I have ever seen him. He was buried in this suit, one of his final wishes. They are truly a beautiful thing for this beautiful planet, and I want to share it with all of you.”
Only a few months prior to Perry’s death, Sophie took a photo of mushrooms that she shared with the post — not realizing when she took the photo how significant mushrooms would soon become. “In December I went to San Francisco with two of my best friends. One of them had never never been to California, so we went to show him the Redwoods,” she said. “I took this picture while we were there, because I thought, ‘Damn, those mushrooms are beautiful.’ Now mushrooms hold an entirely new meaning for me.”
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When asked by a follower if the mushroom suit acts in lieu of a traditional casket, Sophie explained that you can skip a traditional casket altogether if the burial site allows it. If not, you would need to buy a biodegradable casket. Per Coeio, the company that makes the mushroom suits, the suits and other Infinity Burial products cleanse the body and soil of toxins that would seep into the environment otherwise — thereby delivering nutrients from the body to surrounding plant roots, speeding up decomposition in an organic way that is beneficial to the existing eco-system.
We didn’t think it was possible, but the fact that Perry felt so passionate about an eco-friendly burial makes us love him even more. Happily, his legacy of giving will live on thanks to his family. On Monday, Sophie announced that she had raised enough funds to open a preschool in Malawi that will bear her father’s name.
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