Well, at least they haven’t gotten to the part where they cut people’s hearts out on a sacrificial alter yet, eh?
After Moira Cathleen Delaney was diagnosed with an aggressive form of intestinal cancer, her thoughts eventually turned to her eventual death and what she wanted done with her body. Delaney’s love of gardening, birds and the forest inspired her decision to be transformed into soil — literally — through a process known as natural organic reduction.
When she died in October at age 57, her family sprinkled some of her remains under her favorite backyard tree and gave some remains to her closest friends and relatives in glass jars to keep or plant things with.
“For her, it was a very comforting thought to be able to return to the earth in that kind of way, and to have her final physical act contributing to the life process,” said Marcos Moliné, her son.
OK, nothing really unusual there
Interest in body disposal options that are better for the planet has risen in recent years, according to research commissioned by the National Funeral Directors Association. Researchers and industry experts said people worry about how conventional death practices such as embalming, fire cremation and casket and vault burials affect the climate, environment and people’s health. Others simply want their final resting place to be in their cherished outdoors.
“How we die does lead to a substantial impact on not only the people around us and our communities, but the earth itself,” said Mark Shelvock, a psychotherapist and lecturer at Western University in Canada, who co-wrote a paper on green death practices.
You’re dead. You won’t care.
At Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery in Florida, natural burials are combined with land conservation. Graves are dug by hand and bodies are only buried in caskets or shrouds made of biodegradable materials like bamboo or cotton. Embalmed bodies and vaults aren’t allowed, and to bury cremated remains, they must be in biodegradable, chemical-free urns. (snip)
Earth Funeral is a company specializing in natural organic reduction, also known as terramation and human composting. The body remains in a sealed vessel for 30 to 45 days with mulch, wood chips and flowers. Inside, microorganisms break down the body into soil in a natural process that generates heat to reach temperatures of 131 F (55 C) or higher — enough to kill germs. (snip)
Alkaline hydrolysis is also supposed to mimic and speed up natural decomposition. At the Colorado-based water cremation company Be a Tree, bodies are put into a vessel with 95% water and 5% potassium hydroxide that is then heated to about 200 F (93 C) for about 18 hours.
Skeletal remains are air-dried, processed and returned to loved ones as powder in an urn or shaped as stones. Most families keep some of the liquid for houseplants or gardening, but most of it goes to land conservation partners to be used as fertilizer, said founder and CEO Emily Nelson. Other companies discharge the residual liquid with other wastewater.
Culty McCultface.
Read: Oh, Good, Climate Cult Has It’s Own Burial Practices Now »
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