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Getting human bodies to decompose underground is not trivial. The idea is nice, but I think the idea of a burial forest is much nicer, as it gives an excuse to
by dusted 8y ago
Getting human bodies to decompose underground is not trivial.
The idea is nice, but I think the idea of a burial forest is much nicer, as it gives an excuse to plant some trees, and provides multiple moral perspectives for not chopping them down again.
The burial forest idea is basically that you bury someone, and plant a tree on top, like a tombstone, but, a tombtree, and that tree is then both a memorial for the deceased, and, more importantly, it is a tree, and trees are nice to have around.
- KozmoNau7 8y agoI would prefer to be buried with as little environmental impact as possible, so a forest burial seems like a good ide. Equally as important is that I would prefer a joyful wake, one where friends and family get together and remember all the best times we had together, and to celebrate a life well lived. Have a grand old party in my name, and remember to enjoy the good things in life.
- mongol 8y agoHow does that work in the long perspective? At one point it either falls over by itself, or it is chopped down? If it falls over by itself, what is done with it then?
- dusted 8y agoIt will not be chopped down. The idea is to plant a forest which is in some form of the word "sacred", a place that is respected, because it is nature reclaimed, or because it is a resting place of the dead. If a tree falls over (some live many hundreds of years), it will rot and take on its natural role in nature as food for fungus and other life. As people die, the forest grows. It shouldn't be maintained, the land should be considered spent, given back. Forests and nature in general managed just fine without human intervention, and indeed, us valiantly putting out forest fires have only made forest fires more dangerous as forests are now denser than they'd have been with natural pruning.
- adrianN 8y agoYou plant two trees, one for the deceased human and one for the dead tree.
- NeedMoreTea 8y agoThe green burial site we've chosen is a lightly managed forest, without the litter of a traditional graveyard - no headstones, urns, monuments and what not. Just an eco friendly burial, with no embalming first, and optionally a small plaque made of local stone. Flowers are allowed, but they must be just a bunch of flowers without wire, foam, vase or plastic wrap. Wreaths are quietly removed a few days after a burial. It just looks like a particularly nice bit of native forest, and in a hundred years they aim that it should still just look like forest. They allow and even encourage picnics, walkers, dog walkers. Surprisingly - well we were - it isn't more expensive than a regular funeral.
- samstave 8y agoWhere is this?
- exhilaration 8y agoYou can google "green burial" or "natural burial" for your state. Here some locations in New Jersey: https://web.njsfda.org/public/decisions/ground-burial/green-burials https://web.njsfda.org/public/decisions/ground-burial/green-...
- chousuke 8y agoPlant a new one? You can maintain a cemetery forest just like a regular one; the dead people aren't going to care, and so long as the forest maintenance is not completely neglected, why would the survivors complain either? It's not like regular tombstones don't erode away with time just like trees would. I don't know about you, but for me even a fallen tree sounds like a more interesting tomb marker than a slab of stone.
- askvictor 8y agoAt many graveyards you now lease a grave for a certain number of years, not in perpetuity. Not really much different to that. No idea what they do with the bodies once the lease is up...
- logfromblammo 8y agoTraditionally, the previous occupant is exhumed and their bones deposited in the ossuary building. I imagine a modern cemetery just quietly trashes the headstone when the lease expires, and re-leases the plot at full price, as though no one had already been buried there. I'm not sure when the gravesite lease for ethical business practice expires.
- nicthesailor 8y agoApparently in Greece they dig the bodies up after three years and put the bones in an ossuary. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34920068 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34920068
- nkrisc 8y agoThe long term perspective is that the site remains as natural as possible. People who choose to be buried here probably aren't looking for an eternal monument to their existence, but instead are trying to leave this world with as little trace as possible.
- nkrisc 8y agoThis is what I've always wanted. However, my hope is that in a few hundred years when the tree finally dies, the wind will blow it over and some hiker will find my skeleton tangled in the roots. Ideally it will scare them, it will be my last prank.
- mikeash 8y agoStartup idea: ultra durable light-sensing box that can survive hundreds of years underground, then emits a horrible screaming noise when unearthed.
- konart 8y agohttps://www.timesnownews.com/international/article/man-murdered-40-years-ago-body-found-after-fig-tree-grows-from-seed-in-his-stomach-crime-viral/290292 https://www.timesnownews.com/international/article/man-murde... I've seen similar articles a few times. Not to uncommon it seems.
- nkrisc 8y agoYes, I recall that one (tragic)! Here's another story that initially gave me the idea: https://www.cnn.com/2015/09/15/europe/ireland-tree-skeleton-discovery-feat/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2015/09/15/europe/ireland-tree-skeleton-...
- DiseasedBadger 8y agoIf they ever successfully clone dinosaurs, I'd love to be fed to a TRex. That'd make a great tombstone photo for the pedia.
- nickelcitymario 8y agoLiving or already dead? If you wait until you're dead, you won't get to experience the splendor of being consumed by a giant reptile. But if living? Oh man. Giddy up, partner.
- ceejayoz 8y agoYou can have yourself fed to their ancestors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_burial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_burial
- kantos2 8y ago>Getting human bodies to decompose underground is not trivial. This is simply not true
- logfromblammo 8y agoStep 1. Do not embalm the body. Step 2. Do not put it in a coffin. Step 3. Bury it. Overcoming the marketing pressure of the morticians and funerals industry is the non-trivial part. It's like getting engaged without a diamond ring. All you have to do is not buy an expensive thing that nobody needs.
- Double_a_92 8y ago> you bury someone, and plant a tree on top I also thought about that. It just feels like a nice thing, coming from something deeply ingrained in my mind. I wonder why other people also seem to have the same feeling.
- camelNotation 8y agoHuman bodies naturally decompose on their own, even without a tree. The problem is that no one is burying people unembalmed, everyone insists on mummifying the corpses of their relatives before putting them in the ground and this is just impossible to sustain. Furthermore, they are burying people in these thick, elaborate coffins that take forever to decompose as well. Lots of people think cremation is environmentally friendly, but they don't realize the amount of fuel being burned and how much carbon it puts into the atmosphere. It's not clean by any stretch of the imagination. They also don't realize that crematoriums are not cleaned well and that they are often not getting the ashes of just their relative but probably other people as well, but that is a separate issue. The answer is for funeral homes to begin offering expedited burials that use natural preservation techniques on unembalmed bodies. The new expectation would be that the burial occur within 24 hours of death, 48 if absolutely necessary (something that would be inconvenient for funeral preparations, but worth it) and bodies placed in freezers and on dry ice (in the coffin) to prevent decay and odor from setting in. This works, it's being done in certain parts of the US and in lots of places around the world. My family is Eastern Orthodox Christian and this is the traditional burial method for us. A simple wooden box, an unembalmed body, and into the ground ASAP. Nothing better for the environment than to return yourself to the earth.
- e40 8y agoBodies could be put into cold storage if a delay for burial were needed.
- camelNotation 8y agoSure, that is definitely an option. But people need to be willing to discuss those options and demand them from funeral services. The problem we have with this entire subject is that most people are not willing to engage with it too seriously because they are disquieted by the idea of mortality itself.
- schwartzworld 8y agoJews don't embalm. Embalming is only really necessary if you are doing open-casket, which we don't do.
- pastor_elm 8y agoI don't need my own tree, and I don't think most people who go this route would need one either. Just dump me in the woods somewhere. I don't care if anybody knows the specific location. The problem, I see, is overcrowding. It's not really a quality forest if you constantly have to dig holes for new bodies.
- pvaldes 8y agoNot to mention that, huh..., wildboars love to dig and eat carrion so you need some kind of case, (or at least a reusable and temporal heavy metal plank). You will make a dog really happy for a while at least.