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If you don't want to be cremated or buried, there are these "natural death"[0] places that will perform woodland burials for you. It's pretty cool. You are buri
by arjie 11y ago
If you don't want to be cremated or buried, there are these "natural death"[0] places that will perform woodland burials for you. It's pretty cool. You are buried out on a meadow somewhere in a biodegradable coffin without being embalmed and with a tree over you.
Not advocating banning cremations or anything. Just found that cool.
0: http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/ http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/
- uremog 11y agoI heard in a TED talk that you can now buy a "mushroom suit" that acts as a substrate and is laced with nutrient so that you grow mushrooms when buried.
- sandworm101 11y agoThis isn't legal in many jurisdictions. When done correctly I'm sure it is perfectly safe and dignified. But we have rules about the disposal of bodies for a reason. Not everyone appreciates people turning meadows into their personal burial grounds. There are some serious questions being asked about natural burials and pharmaceuticals. Dead bodies these days are cocktails of drugs, synthetic body parts (knee/hip replacements) even radionuclides. Whether the mushroom suit can deal with all of that properly remains an open question.
- arjie 11y agoWell, obviously one can't go around burying bodies willy-nilly. I do not believe that needs stating.
- smallreader 11y agoIt's legal in virtually all jurisdictions, provided the proper steps are followed to organize as a cemetery, comply with laws, coordinate with funeral directors etc. Basic principles of no embalming, no vault, simple coffin or shroud, are more or less identical to Jewish and Muslim practices, practiced in every state. Moreover there are no ecological concerns versus conventional burial, except that conventional burial typically involves sticking a lot of concrete, steel, and treated wood in the ground. Whereas natural burial uses fewer resources and conserves land in a natural state. Embalming does nothing regarding drugs or radionucleotides in the body. It simply adds embalming fluid consisting mostly of formaldehyde that decomposes after burial. Removing implants may or may not be done for both conventional and "natural" burial, no difference; it's always done for cremation since incineration is involved. The "mushroom suit" innovation is not a common green burial practice at this time.
- DanBC 11y agoYou don't just go and find a field and dig a big deep hole. Someone else has a spare field, and they get the necessary permissions. It's just a normal graveyard, but not attached to any religious building, with no or minimal headstones, and lots of trees and native local flowers.
- sandworm101 11y agoYes. It's an involved process that might even require the purchase of the property and setting up your own personal cemetery. If you are inside a city and require rezoning then you better get started long before you expect to die. Low impact, but certainly not low cost. And all sorts of places (parks, crown land etc) where ashes are allowed remain off limits.
- DanBC 11y agoYou're still not getting it. It's just a business.