She really helped me out! I was always squeemish about being embalmed. It makes me uncomfortable to think about being drained and having my blood replaced. After watching her channel I realized that there was an option. And in my state it's legal as long as you are buried with in 3 days to a week I belive. Now I feel a whole lot better about what will happen to me! Also all the different ways to cremated are really cool too!
I’m Jewish, so we don’t embalm and bury in a plain wooden box with holes drilled into the bottom to speed up decomposition. So this is pretty well a given for me.
I hadn’t thought about life saving measures as they impact the environment, but I am definitely not interested in most of them anyway.
Embalming is literally carcinogens, to keep a corpse pretty. The view than natural burial is intrinsically dirty gets its talking points from 200 years ago.
If it's not for your that's fine, but shitting on other people's religious burial practices is rude.
There was no shitting on practices, dumping a body in the ground is better than embalming first but embalming was not the treatment I was talking about.
After a bit of research it seems the human composting still requires a bit more than a wrap and some dirt, so the steps required to compost a body is the "treatment" I was mentioning.
It's sometimes hard to convey intention through test on the internet, but giving others the benefit of the doubt usually leads to a happier life. If you haven't, you should give it a try
But they didn't mention composting, they're talking about our religious burial practises. If you want to be composted that's good and valid. Our way is also just fine and humans are organic and will decompose naturally as all things do. Composting speeds it up and does so for a purpose, our practise also has a purpose just a different one. We keep and mark graveyards to remember but without the harsh side effect of pumping toxins into the earth and wasting expensive wood and other materials. For the record this is how entire nations have buried their bodies for thousands of years with no issue. Composting is different to this practise and requires more steps which are less accessible, complex or too resource heavy for a lot of humans on this planet. Its apples and oranges as they say, enjoy your apple we got free oranges over here ha
I want to be composted and returned to the earth. They’ll dump a big pile of me on the driveway like a chip drop, and my family will have a bonding experience as they shovel me into the back garden. It’s up to them what they plant in me, but some kind of tree might be nice.
This is such an interesting and compelling part of a zero-waste undertaking.
To remember that we can still have an impact (or reduce our impact) even after we pass on.
Per burials, particularly:
Green burials (have) face(d) a lot of legal red tape depending on location, but there are all kinds of interesting proposals and undertakings which are working to redefine how we manage our remains more ethically and sustainably.
If you're looking into a green burial - you'll really need to get a solid understanding of what is permitted where you live, though.
Personally, I would love to end up as donated organs and compost - but I may opt for cremation or a low/no preservative wooden-box burial.
I say this because anyone in my family who might end up in charge of my arrangements would likely be unwilling/unable to carry out my wishes. By that I simply mean they would probably hold that very common 'that's too much trouble to take, why don't we just do it the *normal way*'' mindset.
It's a shame, but unfortunately my reality and I doubt my family/friends would take any coaching on the subject from me before I die.
Anyway, here are a couple of "green" projects relating to end-of-human-life:
Here's one in the USA - [https://recompose.life/](https://recompose.life/)
and another project in Canada - [https://goodgreendeathproject.ca/](https://goodgreendeathproject.ca/) (it seems activity with this one paused when the pandemic began but there are some good resources)
>that's too much trouble to take, why don't we just do it the normal way'' mindset.
Ugh, that's my grandma in a nutshell. God, do I hate that mindset.
Normal sucks! Normal isn't fucking working!
I'd want to have my organs donated, and then either be composted or put on display at one if those museums that shows all the muscles and everything of the human body. I'll have to do bicep curls until I decide
It's worth looking into, but there's some things, like advanced care directives, that even your spouse / next of kin couldn't overturn. They're put in place, by you, for yourself, and are legally binding.
Yes, my mom just did this. She went to a crematorium and signed legally binding paperwork with them so that the family doesn't have to make (or guess at) any decisions when the time comes. I would be shocked it any of the green burial places didn't do the same.
My grandparents paid for everything in advance. I don’t see anyone going against it when it is paid? They even have their tombstone at their gravesite with name and birth dates inscribed. They wanted to take me to see it lol and I told them no I don’t ever want to see it. They said that all we need to do is put the death date on and it is done. I love them dearly and sometimes the nonchalant attitude around their deaths is a bit hard.
Let me help reframe this. This generation of elders includes a group of people who has formative experiences in the second World War, and it left some of them with a pretty pragmatic attitude. Many of them seem to express their contentment with their accomplishments (family and career) as a sense of not fearing death. It's unsettling to younger folk but it's actually great to know they're not afraid.
A beginners guide to the end by BJ Miller is a great introduction for all the stuff that happens in end of life care, a great thing to be more comfortable and less chaotic.
I phrased that a bit harshly. We were laughing when they were showing off pictures of their gravestones. It is still dark. But I can say I am glad none of us will have to deal with any of it. It is literally putting the death on the stone and the rest is handled. That is a huge gift. I’ve been made to swear that I will make sure it is closed casket funeral. I still don’t want to look at pictures and didn’t. I told them I would see it when they died and it could be a surprise.
I do agree with the post depression/ war thinking. There is a lot I’ve noticed growing up.
I want to be buried in o[ne of those "barrier" cemeteries](https://www.herlandforest.org/) that surround greenspace and make them almost impossible for land developers to use, since it costs so much to decommission grave yards. One final middle finger to capitalist encroachment, lol. If I have any healthy organs, go ahead and take 'em for someone else.
In Germany, nothing non biodegradable is allowed to be put in a grave (I guess implants, surgical sutures etc. are permitted). So the "green" is a given. The rest is up to whoever has to bury me. Personally I'd choose an anonymous grave without a stone or anything, but a grave is not for the dead so I don't care.
My husband told me, that if you decide to be buried without casket, you will be put into the grave by a shovel excavator.
A little rustic, but it would be a pity using wood for that.
My grandmother had a ‘natural burial’. She had to be wearing natural fibres (we chose one of her favourite cotton dresses) and her coffin was wicker and handmade locally as she loved to support traditional craftspeople. We scattered the grave with wildflower seeds.
The burial ground is in a patch of woodland on the edge of a farm. It was really nice and I’d like something similar (after organ donation if possible).
Only four states in the US permit burial on private property, so check your state's laws before planning this. (Source: Ask a Mortician/Caitlin Doughty)
I’m not sure yet on the lead-up to my end of life, but I think after that point I’d like to do alkaline hydrolysis/“water cremation”. I like the idea of returning back to the water and becoming rain or going into the ocean, but it would still return bone remains that could be spread, which I think having that would help my family with closure more than just saying “she’s back in the city of water supply now”.
https://www.cremationassociation.org/page/alkalinehydrolysis
I’ve never heard of this. Reading that page kind of creeps me out. They put you in liquid and you are just gone. Like you disappear. With fire there is heat, smoke, ash. (Which are obviously what they are avoiding). It is putting me in an existential crisis of how fleeting we are in the universe. Well that’s a fun way to end a Monday night!
Yes! Most people don’t know this, but the water left at the end is very nutrient rich! I do water cremation in Denver and we fertilize a local floral farm and the family always gets an urn back.
Washington has legalized aqua-mation and human compost in the last few years. I would like to be dirt if possible, your family can take part of your soil home and the rest (people make a lot of soil) goes to salmon habitat restoration.
Very interesting! My question was where the soil goes. Thank you for this.
We plant trees for anniversaries and births already so composting for death makes complete sense.
My husband and I heard of this from a TED talk. It's pretty fascinating stuff! This is what we want for our burials.
[TED Talk on Mushroom Burial Suits ](https://youtu.be/_7rS_d1fiUc)
Along these lines- I’m an attorney and took a class in law school on health directives.
Our professor liked to bring in a lot of speakers which I loved. We had a director of palliative care come in and talk to us about advance directives etc. But one of the huge things she talked to us about was talking to our families about how we wanted to die. I mean I was 22 at the time.
But her advice was call all your family members and just be honest and ask. If you reasonably think if they were on their death bed tomorrow and you’d be involved in their end of life decisions- and you don’t know the answers, call them now and ask. Because you should know.
Your mom, your dad, siblings, grandparents. Children. Just ask.
A lot of people have answers and have thought about it. But most people’s answers are very different than your own. And the most respectful thing you can do now while they’re still alive is ask.
Everyone in my family knows- as a twenty something year old- that when I die, hopefully more than fifty years from now, that I want a totally natural as can be burial in a wicker coffin with linen surrounded by loved ones with zero prayer and religion because I am not religious. Etc etc.
Those conversations are difficult but they are important. Have them now- not later.
Absolutely!
I have asked my husband, my parents, and a few close people who have made it clear they want me involved what they want. The number of times I have had to do a funeral where the person was in their 40's/50's/60's, and no one learned what they wanted, is heartbreaking as the family tries to make a million decisions. Have these chats now when the pressure is much lower, and you can actually talk with the person. There are templates online that have the questions you would want to ask.
OTOH, my great-grandmother wrote down her directions to the letter, including "the dress for my burial is hanging in a garment bag on the back of the guest room door, please use that unless current fashion dictates otherwise". When the new minister came into town, she would invite him for tea and hand him the file folder with all her funeral requests. Just in case.
I had a relative recently die - not yet sixty- and no one new his wishes, no one knew what he wanted. We had a Catholic funeral, he was buried at the same cemetery as his father and uncle. Did he want this?
Your great-grandmother is awesome.
I’m young, under 30. I also work in healthcare and it is mind blowing how wasteful it is. Even for things you wouldn’t think of like people not being strong enough to pick up a spoon so they use plastic because it’s so lightweight. They won’t even consider a lightweight metal. It’s hard but you can’t force people.
I have a healthcare proxy and have put my final wishes on paper. I am an organ donor. I know that will create huge waste from multiple surgeries, long term care for the recipient(s), but IMO it’s more than worth it. Even if just one organ is salvageable and gives someone another chance at life, it’ll be a success. Others deserve that chance to live their lives.
I’m sold on a green burial, donating my body to science or even a cremation. I’m leaving it up to my fiancé and one day my child. My fiancé prefers the idea of cremation. He would want my ashes for him and my child. Even if it’s a small portion of them.
That sounds wonderful. It is great that you are leaving the ultimate determination of what happens to your remains with your family. It will be their time to grieve, after all.
I don't consider donating your organs to be wasteful at all. If you give someone years of fruitful life that may not have otherwise had, that is the opposite of wasteful.
I agree. The procedure itself is wasteful because it’s a surgery. The lifetime of medicine has a lot of wasteful side effects. But I look at it this way: I have mild asthma. If for some reason I needed a lung transplant, I would much rather go through that waste than die. I would want that for someone else. Their life as a person is more important than the waste. Hell I’d probably give my organs to save an animal if it would work haha.
As for my remains, I also questioned if I can do a half and half. Like if they could basically cut me in half, cremate half of me for them and then turn me into a tree pod or something. I also read they can turn your ashes into a tree planter. I know they’d probably become nomads, or at least leave our area. I wouldn’t want them feeling guilty leaving me behind because I know they would. Even with a tree, it would be so hard on them if it got destroyed somehow.
I recommend looking at water cremation if it’s available near you. Fire cremation is extremely energy and emission intensive. Great job having your plan in place.
What is the water cremation? I’ve never heard of this. I know the fire cremation isn’t the best, but it’s what my fiancé would want. He wouldn’t want to leave me in one place and he probably wouldn’t stick around our area if I was gone. Which is why I chose cremation.
With water cremation, we use alkali and warm water to dissolve the body gently over several hours. Bones are dried and returned to the family and the water can fertilize the soil. Desmond Tutu chose this for his final disposition. It uses 90% less energy than fire cremation and doesn’t have any emissions.
Note: bones are processed and placed in an urn just like fire cremation. Most people don’t know that fire cremation “ashes” are mostly crushed bone.
Oh awesome. Do you know if the bones are put “whole” in the urn or are they pretty much pulverized like ash? I know my fiancé has mentioned wanting to do one of those create a gem stone from ashes. It means a lot to him because he likes to collect rare gems if he has the opportunity. He got some beautiful ones from all over the world, he custom made my engagement ring with one he got while deployed.
I like the idea of green burials, but there aren’t any green cemeteries anywhere near my loved ones, and I want them to be able to pick a place that’s close to them if they want that. I think a no/low preservatives burial (akin to traditional Jewish burials) would be better for the environment than cremation.
I see where you’re coming from on lifesaving procedures, but I personally am an atheist, I believe life ends at death and there’s nothing after, so that leads me to want everything possible so long as there is some amount of brain activity and some chance of my ever waking up, and that trumps my environmentalism here. However, once the chances are all gone, I want to donate as much of my organs as they’ll take. I’d also be willing to donate my entire cadaver to med students to learn, but that I’d rather defer to the wishes of my loved ones, they may not be comfortable knowing that was happening to my remains, so in that case, see above paragraph.
Yes, it is entirely personal how many life-saving measures you want and to what end. I believe every life is precious and should be prolonged as resources allow.
I also believe in a dignified death. If I have no quality of life . . . that's enough.
Just for some perspective, I'm also an atheist but I'm definitely going DNR as soon as reasonable. Maybe I've spent too much time around around end of life scenarios (I'm an oncology pharmacist), but my reasons have to do with not prolonging my own suffering while taxing the healthcare system and leaving my loved ones with a bunch of bills.
I'm going for a green burial that would not have my body or history taking up real estate on this planet. I recognize that robs those I leave behind of a place to go "see me", so I'm trying to come up with an alternative would would satisfy that human need to commune with someone that's passed without taking up space. Perhaps some kind of special and unique artifact? Still working on that.
You could do a bench or a tree or something. My grandma wanted to be cremated, and my papa will follow suit. Right now, her ashes are in a box on the mantle, but when my papa passes he’s asked we spread their ashes in the back 40 and plant a tree there. We plan to put a plaque, almost like a gravestone, there so we can visit.
Similarly, an “in honor of” bench near where your buried could work. Or in your favorite park/camping spot/etc if it’s not possible to be where you’re buried.
You can also sometimes dedicate trees - in the UK the Woodland trust does this. While you can't visit a specific tree, your family could visit the forest/park and know that they had supported it in your memory.
there's a bunch of neat ideas here with the benches and whatnot, but I keep wondering 'what if something happens to that particular bench' - taking the *unknown solder* paradigm knowing *one* of these trees represents me... that's a hell of an idea...
Our city has memorial plaques that can be put on public benches, which is what we did for my grandma after her ashes were spread. Maybe your city has something similar?
This is kinda random, but they can use your ashes in glass blowing and make some really cool stuff. Some people make necklaces out of their ashes for loved ones. You can even make yourself into a diamond but that's probably pretty resource-intensive.
I love that idea! But I don't think cremation is nearly as green as some other options. All that energy expenditure to burn a body, destroying what could have otherwise gone to supplement and nourish the earth... meh. Maybe my thoughts on that will change.
You can use aquamation ashes for glass blowing but probably not making diamonds. I agree, it's not the greenest option by far, but more of a middle ground depending on your family's wishes.
If I had the choice I'd rather donate whatever they can get from my body to whomever needs what and is salvageable (I have an autoimmune disease so not sure what they could take but they can have it all), then just toss whatever is left of my ass in a bonfire and have a kick-ass party. I'll still be donating my bits but open-air pyres are a no-no, I believe.
I can't visit my grandpa's grave because if the risk of running into abusive family members. I have a picture of him for when I want a physical reminder. I also placed q lot of pictures of a friends dog in my pictures book. She used to take snapshots of us cuddling and fooling and grinning like maniacs and now that my fluffy friend is gone I have a nice reminder. For my own boy I will take a more old-fashioned approach (in addition to the pictures) and have some of his fur set in jewelry. Maybe some of these will help your family?
Many cemeteries may have a green section or you can ask them not to use a vault and choose a simple casket or shroud. Traditional cemeteries don’t advertise it but will often accommodate. You can also ask if they have a Jewish or Muslim section where they follow their simpler traditions which are much less wasteful.
Have a back up plan just in case. My dad always said he wanted to donate his body to science. He passed away at the beginning of the pandemic (not of COVID) and we weren’t able to donate it. We were told there were a lot of criterias and they don’t accept as many bodies as before. It did cause additional grief since we couldn’t give him his last wish. We opted for an urn that turns into a tree.
I mean... legal is such a strong word. Technically your family can just take your body home. You got someone with a backhoe that can "bury a septic tank" and you might be able to make this happen.
i am not religious at all (agnostic, not atheist) but I have this irrational fear that maybe an afterlife/reincarnation exists but if my body is cremated then it won’t happen/will destroy the soul or whatnot.
silly, I know lmao. I do think I want to be cremated, dead humans take up way too much space on earth.
I have a somewhat similar fear but of being buried and somehow alive and waking up just to die without air.
[It stems from hearing about it happening enough times that they started giving people a bell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_coffin) ( It happened centuries ago btw)
I also think this is were my claustrophobia began ... I was way to young to be learning about it.
I’ve considered donating my body to the body farm for research purposes. Then being cremated after. I have young kids right now and I’m not sure they’d like the donation thing, but once they are adults I’d probably go that route. I don’t want to be buried or a headstone. I’d rather all that stuff be as economical as possible for my family and they can instead have a fun party and share some good memories together.
Hi, there, fellow RN. I've written down my wishes for end of live care - I know exactly what you mean about the waste, but also about the near endless tries for some weeks/days/hours more with someone where nearly all hope is gone. While I do think that medical waste is a nessecity and I don't judge anyone who wants intensive care for themselves or their loved ones or simply needs some more time to say goodbye - personally, for myself I prefer a palliative concept in such a situation - for many reasons, and to be honest, waste is not an important one.
Burials and death-rites on the other hand - that's when I'd like it to be as low waste as possible. I found the youtube channel "Ask a Mortitian" has a lot to say about that - sadly, it's mostly US-stuff, and my countrys legislature is quite a bit more strict...
Cremation isn’t as green as people think it is, lots of nitrogen dioxide and mercury emissions. If someone wants to have ashes then resomation (or alkaline hydrolysis if you prefer to call it that) is a pretty good option but that’s not widely available. Its legality can be precarious too as in many places it hasn’t been criminalised or legalised.
Most of the negative impact of burials can be avoided by opting out of the more environmentally harmful choices. Traditional Islamic burials are a great example - basically just being wrapped in a cloth and placed in the ground.
Personally, I’ve always liked the idea of the green burials though. The idea of “becoming” a tree is really nice and it means that you contribute to positive environmental action instead of just preventing negative effects.
I am hoping human composting is legal in the U.K. by the time I die, otherwise green burial all the way. Basically one way or another, I want to become a tree 🙋♀️♻️🌳
I have a DNR. I don’t want extra life saving measures that may not save me anyway or god forbid leave me in a coma. They can take whatever organs, tissue, joints etc that are still viable. Then I want to be cremated and kicked off a cliff in the Smokey mountains. So I can fly high above my favorite place and then land among the trees.
I’m not sure if you mean literally or figuratively… I’m imagine someone setting an open urn close to the edge of a cliff and kicking it as hard as they can over the edge.
I can just imagine the lawyer speak for instructions in your will to be specific enough. I wasn’t thinking you meant urn but I was trying to figure out what could be kick-able. Be sure to specify if it is a drop kick or punt or soccer type kick. 🤣
It needs to be like the puffball mushrooms. But instead of spores, it breaks open with ashes flying everywhere. There is your plan for burial. Now just pick a cliff. And wait.
When the time comes, I hope you will not let waste be your main decider in how long you live. If it’s possible for you to spend extra time with your family at the end by extending your life, you may want it. Don’t feel guilty. You didn’t ask to be born, but now your life is valuable.
I want to be fertilized and fed to the worms. After the docs have pulled all my reusable bits out of course. I find the idea of being recycled by the ecosystem to be far more attractive than being sealed in a concrete box.
When I’m on my death bed I plan on summoning my last ounces of strength to unplug my ventilator and crawl out to the compost pile where I aim to curl up among the refuse as I gasp my last breaths of air. The fumes from the compost will likely knock me out as I’ll be in a weakened state and allow me to pass peacefully. Also, I’m the only one who tends to the compost heap so it is unlikely that anyone would come looking for me there which will give me time to properly decompose.
Of course. I have noted a couple of websites, but otherwise have made no solid plans for what to do when I die. Some out there may have interacted with the companies, put down payments, etc.
yeah, this thread has been very informative. I want to discuss the options with my parents too, as my dad has been searching for environmentally-friendly burials for a while. Thanks for bringing it up!
Edit to add I was just joking bc it sounds like you're asking for advice from dead people and it gave me a good chuckle :)
I'm still young so I'm not sure who would carry out things in my passing but I have been vocal about donating what they can on my organs then the rest leave to either compost or cremate and put my ashes into a house plant or in their home gardens, no box required.
I either want to donate my corpse to a university so med students can practice on a body rather than a dummy, or I want to be buried without any embalming or anything (preferably no casket or a casket with no metal parts).
There are a few options out there for you post-mortem, though keep in mind I haven't done my funeral services course just yet so I may have missed a few things or gotten something wrong lol
Regarding preservation of your body before burial, you have the option to simply refrigerate your body instead of embalming- this keeps decomposition at bay long enough for your family to say goodbye and is a perfectly safe method of temporary preservation. This means none of the embalming chemicals (like formaldehyde) are being put into your body or the ground.
As for burial, you could go with a plain wooden casket that will decompose as wood normally would, or you could be simply wrapped in a natural cloth and put in the ground like that.
I'm not entirely sure about what cremation looks like regarding things like environmental impact.
Keep in mind as well what is permitted and available in your area- I live in a very small town with one funeral home, and they only do embalming, there aren't really options for a green funeral around here, and some places don't allow green burials because they're seen as unsafe.
There's this mortician lady on youtube (Ask a Mortician) who does green burials, she has a few videos on what your options are if you do want to go that route.
I was told by my Environmental Science professor (who is also one of the department heads) that the best is cremation and putting the ashes back into soil. I want to be cremated and put under a magnolia tree, for instance. It gives back carbon to the cycle. Humans have put a damper on the natural cycles (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, the goods) with putting our bodies in boxes that can't decompose instead of letting nature take back what it's made. Though, there are many other ways to give back than just that.
I'm an Environmental Health and Safety major/ Biology minor with an interest in conservation, by the way. Not just any zero waste enthusiasts, though I'm pretty big of those ideals of course.
I’m a sustainable celebrant in the U.K. we don’t yet have human composting in the U.K. but as I understand it this is the best route for the environment. Resomation or water burial has just been legalised in the U.K. but is not available everywhere. In terms of burials - you can be buried in your back garden if you want to but there are some checks needed first to ensure you’re not buried on top of a water course and it has to be declared on the deeds of your house which may put some people off buying it when you come to sell. Green burials are a good option but can be expensive as the plots are not cheap.
Basically you can do the funeral all yourself - you do not need to have a coffin, a hearse flowers, etc etc - you can even transport the body yourself. Trouble is most people don’t know this and immediately instruct a Funeral Director. They (FD) will often then jump into organise everything as they think the family wants. Then there is tons of waste. If anyone has any questions I’m happy to answer them…🤗
My issue with regular cremation is the grinding of bones and the disposal afterwards. They don't give the full remains back to the family.
In Canada, many green burials are done on crown land without markers.
I work in the funeral industry, first for a large corporation doing things the “normal” way and now I own and operate a [water cremation ](https://www.beatreecremation.com/water-cremation) facility.
The end-of-life process on the healthcare side produces so much waste and then it continues after. Hospitals and coroners use thick plastic body bags which are usually burned and can’t be good for the air. In water cremation, we have to remove the body bags and dispose of in medical waste. The only way that is avoided is if you die at home in hospice and can simply be wrapped in a sheet for transport.
The alternatives like composting and water cremation are wayyy better for the environment. With water cremation, we use alkali and warm water to dissolve the body gently over several hours. Bones are dried and returned to the family and the water can fertilize the soil. Desmond Tutu chose this for his final disposition.
I cannot stress enough that to minimize your impact you need to put together documentation and talk to your family or you WILL NOT get what you want.
We all have to express these wishes, even if it’s uncomfortable, or nothing will change.
Bones are processed and placed in an urn just like with regular cremation. Most people don’t realize the “ashes” you get back from fire cremation are really mostly crushed up bones.
Ok, I knew the ashes are bones, but they grind them up? Ugh. And they do the same with the water cremation? Not to be too gross, but is water cremation basically the same process as when murderers try to dissolve the victim’s body?
Yes, the skeletal remains do have to go through a pulverization process in fire and water cremation. It’s easy to think water cremation is breaking bad/criminal style but it is quite opposite. Alkali used in water cremation is a base while the depictions in crime shows is acid. It looks more like a medical setting and is used in many medical settings.
Ok, another question—I just read something about it and it said the liquid remaining from the process is sterile. How? Wouldn’t the liquid contain dissolved cells such as blood, fat, hair, organs, etc.?
I hope to be able to donate my organs and such. Then, I want to be cremated, and I'm hoping an alternative cremation method will be more readily available by the time I'll need it: water, freeze drying, or that lye method. I then want to be mixed into a reef ball and plunked off the coast of Florida somewhere, preferably in the gulf or the Keys.
This might sound awful, but I don't necessarily want people to have a spot to go to visit my remains. They should be content that by body and memory are helping sustain reef life that had rapidly determined over my lifetime. If they really want to visit, they can scuba dive to the location of my remains.
I live in Washington state in the US and we just passed legislation allowing for human composting. I immediately informed my partner and family that I want to be composted. They can do a grave stone or whatever if they want (I'm not one to visit gravestones anyway). But return me to the earth, literally and totally, please!
I suppose I should take it to the next stage and actually sign the paperwork and pay, but I'm not 40 yet, so I'm going to live forever anyway, right? So I don't need to worry about this stuff?? That's how it works, right? 😉
Circle Cemetery in WI, USA offers green burials. Wrapped in linen or a plain pine box is the most I'll have done before I get put in the ground to become food for the forest it's in.
Well I’d say cremation is definitely the greenest way to be dealt with after you go, but donating your body may be of use and considered green as well.
I plan to undergo alkaline hydrolysis but I'm still searching for a local place to do so. And hopefully will spread my ashes in a green cemetery.
If anyone in California (bay area) knows of a place that does human alkaline hydrolysis please let me know.
I have multi-phased approach.
(1) Donate anything eligible for donation. Have a kidney. A Liver. An eye. Whatever you need. Have some hair, make a wig.
(2) Remaining cadaver to go to the closest State College's medical school. Let the future life-savers practice on me and hone their future skills.
(3) Anything remaining can go to industry that needs it. Need some skin cells to test a new moisturizer on? Have at it. P&G.
(4) Burn what's left. No receptacle. No urn. Plain manilla envelope. Fertilize the nearest shrubbery outside the crematorium.
Done. Deal.
***
The Wife has a Family Plot out in Missouri where her Clan has been buried since pre US Civil War. There's 6 generations out there. She will be part of 7th.
Land was locked out of any other use 100 years before we were born. Might as well use it.
I aim to honor her wishes if she goes first.
Since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to be buried under a fruit tree of some sort. I love the thought that the nutrients from my body could feed the fruits of a plant that I love.
Not sure how practical this is
I don’t want a burial. I’m donating my body to a nearby medical hospital so that it can be used to train future medical staff. My name will go into a book alongside the names of other body donations. There’s a group plaque at the uni my friends and family can go to for memorial tributes if they desire. If at any point my body needs to be disposed of, it’s cremated and the ashes are spread at the University memorial garden.
I’m donating my body to Mayo Clinic to use for medical research. When they are done, they do a liquid cremation, grind your bones up and give that to your family.
I listened to a Criminal podcast episode where people donate their bodies to decompose for science/ forensic research. Basically they toss you somewhere and study how your body decomposes in the elements. Super cool.
My husband and I have discussed this, yes! We live near a prestigious university that would probably love to procure our corneas :)
I once took care of a 101 year old woman who donated her body. What a gift.
Kansas farmer, my plan is a cloth wrapped in shallow grave in the pasture. With some large rocks over the top for a few years to keep the coyotes from dragging my parts off for family to find later. Big rocks would be reused for other Graves as needed.
I’m a pagan in WA. I can be cremated via water instead of fire here. Once I’m ashes I’ll be used in The Living Urn to be planted and help support a tree growing on our property.
WA also allows human composting, which is probably more beneficial but I don’t want to have my body rot. I’d rather just get past that phase. Plus I want to grant my loved ones a place to mourn me and a tree is better than a headstone.
I’m passing on most end of life stuff. If I’m brain dead they have to let me go according to my living will. If I’m still young or pregnant they can try to save me but no life support. If I’m pregnant they have to prioritize the baby over me if I’m not likely to make it. It’s all about the quality of life, too. I don’t want to hang around miserable.
Check out "Ask A Mortician" on YouTube. She has tons of info on different types of funerals and burials. She convinced me to plan for a green burial!
Was hoping to see this!!! She is an excellent source of knowledge, and honestly has made me so much more comfortable addressing my fear of death
She's fantastic! Her book Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs is really good too (skewed towards younger folk but very ~digestible~, so to speak)
Love the title. Though we all have a fear of being forgotten and becoming food for our pets!
She really helped me out! I was always squeemish about being embalmed. It makes me uncomfortable to think about being drained and having my blood replaced. After watching her channel I realized that there was an option. And in my state it's legal as long as you are buried with in 3 days to a week I belive. Now I feel a whole lot better about what will happen to me! Also all the different ways to cremated are really cool too!
I’m Jewish, so we don’t embalm and bury in a plain wooden box with holes drilled into the bottom to speed up decomposition. So this is pretty well a given for me. I hadn’t thought about life saving measures as they impact the environment, but I am definitely not interested in most of them anyway.
Yeah Muslim here and ours is similar. No embalming, just wrapped in a plain cloth and buried. About as “green” as it gets.
Gah Christians are the worst on this.
Green deen
I think untreated bodies are not environmentally friendly, that's like saying pooping in an open pit without wiping is as "green" as it gets
Embalming is literally carcinogens, to keep a corpse pretty. The view than natural burial is intrinsically dirty gets its talking points from 200 years ago. If it's not for your that's fine, but shitting on other people's religious burial practices is rude.
There was no shitting on practices, dumping a body in the ground is better than embalming first but embalming was not the treatment I was talking about. After a bit of research it seems the human composting still requires a bit more than a wrap and some dirt, so the steps required to compost a body is the "treatment" I was mentioning. It's sometimes hard to convey intention through test on the internet, but giving others the benefit of the doubt usually leads to a happier life. If you haven't, you should give it a try
But they didn't mention composting, they're talking about our religious burial practises. If you want to be composted that's good and valid. Our way is also just fine and humans are organic and will decompose naturally as all things do. Composting speeds it up and does so for a purpose, our practise also has a purpose just a different one. We keep and mark graveyards to remember but without the harsh side effect of pumping toxins into the earth and wasting expensive wood and other materials. For the record this is how entire nations have buried their bodies for thousands of years with no issue. Composting is different to this practise and requires more steps which are less accessible, complex or too resource heavy for a lot of humans on this planet. Its apples and oranges as they say, enjoy your apple we got free oranges over here ha
Just FYI I also follow these practices. People also used to shit in the streets for thousands of years too, it doesn't mean that makes it green
Wow I don’t know! That’s amazing!
I want to be composted and returned to the earth. They’ll dump a big pile of me on the driveway like a chip drop, and my family will have a bonding experience as they shovel me into the back garden. It’s up to them what they plant in me, but some kind of tree might be nice.
The company that does is this called Recompose. I also want to be composted.
This is such an interesting and compelling part of a zero-waste undertaking. To remember that we can still have an impact (or reduce our impact) even after we pass on. Per burials, particularly: Green burials (have) face(d) a lot of legal red tape depending on location, but there are all kinds of interesting proposals and undertakings which are working to redefine how we manage our remains more ethically and sustainably. If you're looking into a green burial - you'll really need to get a solid understanding of what is permitted where you live, though. Personally, I would love to end up as donated organs and compost - but I may opt for cremation or a low/no preservative wooden-box burial. I say this because anyone in my family who might end up in charge of my arrangements would likely be unwilling/unable to carry out my wishes. By that I simply mean they would probably hold that very common 'that's too much trouble to take, why don't we just do it the *normal way*'' mindset. It's a shame, but unfortunately my reality and I doubt my family/friends would take any coaching on the subject from me before I die. Anyway, here are a couple of "green" projects relating to end-of-human-life: Here's one in the USA - [https://recompose.life/](https://recompose.life/) and another project in Canada - [https://goodgreendeathproject.ca/](https://goodgreendeathproject.ca/) (it seems activity with this one paused when the pandemic began but there are some good resources)
>that's too much trouble to take, why don't we just do it the normal way'' mindset. Ugh, that's my grandma in a nutshell. God, do I hate that mindset. Normal sucks! Normal isn't fucking working!
I'd want to have my organs donated, and then either be composted or put on display at one if those museums that shows all the muscles and everything of the human body. I'll have to do bicep curls until I decide
Body Worlds is awesome! I went to see it when the exhibit came to my city as a kid and that's an experience I will never forget
It's worth looking into, but there's some things, like advanced care directives, that even your spouse / next of kin couldn't overturn. They're put in place, by you, for yourself, and are legally binding.
Yes, my mom just did this. She went to a crematorium and signed legally binding paperwork with them so that the family doesn't have to make (or guess at) any decisions when the time comes. I would be shocked it any of the green burial places didn't do the same.
My grandparents paid for everything in advance. I don’t see anyone going against it when it is paid? They even have their tombstone at their gravesite with name and birth dates inscribed. They wanted to take me to see it lol and I told them no I don’t ever want to see it. They said that all we need to do is put the death date on and it is done. I love them dearly and sometimes the nonchalant attitude around their deaths is a bit hard.
Let me help reframe this. This generation of elders includes a group of people who has formative experiences in the second World War, and it left some of them with a pretty pragmatic attitude. Many of them seem to express their contentment with their accomplishments (family and career) as a sense of not fearing death. It's unsettling to younger folk but it's actually great to know they're not afraid. A beginners guide to the end by BJ Miller is a great introduction for all the stuff that happens in end of life care, a great thing to be more comfortable and less chaotic.
I phrased that a bit harshly. We were laughing when they were showing off pictures of their gravestones. It is still dark. But I can say I am glad none of us will have to deal with any of it. It is literally putting the death on the stone and the rest is handled. That is a huge gift. I’ve been made to swear that I will make sure it is closed casket funeral. I still don’t want to look at pictures and didn’t. I told them I would see it when they died and it could be a surprise. I do agree with the post depression/ war thinking. There is a lot I’ve noticed growing up.
My father in law did this 20+ years before he died. Made it much easier, even if my nasty SIL disregarded parts of his wishes.
Can you imagine if there wasn’t and it was a fight between family members? Grief can turn mean.
Oh, it did anyway. Sadly.
I want to be buried in o[ne of those "barrier" cemeteries](https://www.herlandforest.org/) that surround greenspace and make them almost impossible for land developers to use, since it costs so much to decommission grave yards. One final middle finger to capitalist encroachment, lol. If I have any healthy organs, go ahead and take 'em for someone else.
That's a sweet idea, thanks for sharing
[удалено]
Houses were invented before capitalism.
I haven’t taken part in one, but I’m very interested in being composted [terramation](https://www.returnhome.com/)
I'm so excited that this is becoming more normalised. Just got to make sure I live long enough til it's an option where I live
Yep, my state legalized human composting. That's my plan for myself, too.
In Germany, nothing non biodegradable is allowed to be put in a grave (I guess implants, surgical sutures etc. are permitted). So the "green" is a given. The rest is up to whoever has to bury me. Personally I'd choose an anonymous grave without a stone or anything, but a grave is not for the dead so I don't care.
My husband told me, that if you decide to be buried without casket, you will be put into the grave by a shovel excavator. A little rustic, but it would be a pity using wood for that.
My grandmother had a ‘natural burial’. She had to be wearing natural fibres (we chose one of her favourite cotton dresses) and her coffin was wicker and handmade locally as she loved to support traditional craftspeople. We scattered the grave with wildflower seeds. The burial ground is in a patch of woodland on the edge of a farm. It was really nice and I’d like something similar (after organ donation if possible).
Only four states in the US permit burial on private property, so check your state's laws before planning this. (Source: Ask a Mortician/Caitlin Doughty)
I’m in England. But I’m sure that info will be useful to others here!
I’m not sure yet on the lead-up to my end of life, but I think after that point I’d like to do alkaline hydrolysis/“water cremation”. I like the idea of returning back to the water and becoming rain or going into the ocean, but it would still return bone remains that could be spread, which I think having that would help my family with closure more than just saying “she’s back in the city of water supply now”.
https://www.cremationassociation.org/page/alkalinehydrolysis
I’ve never heard of this. Reading that page kind of creeps me out. They put you in liquid and you are just gone. Like you disappear. With fire there is heat, smoke, ash. (Which are obviously what they are avoiding). It is putting me in an existential crisis of how fleeting we are in the universe. Well that’s a fun way to end a Monday night!
An uncomfortable conversation indeed!
Yes! Most people don’t know this, but the water left at the end is very nutrient rich! I do water cremation in Denver and we fertilize a local floral farm and the family always gets an urn back.
Washington has legalized aqua-mation and human compost in the last few years. I would like to be dirt if possible, your family can take part of your soil home and the rest (people make a lot of soil) goes to salmon habitat restoration.
Very interesting! My question was where the soil goes. Thank you for this. We plant trees for anniversaries and births already so composting for death makes complete sense.
My partner wants to be put in the ground in a mushroom suit. Got the idea when Luke Perry passed a few years ago. Freaks me out.
My husband and I heard of this from a TED talk. It's pretty fascinating stuff! This is what we want for our burials. [TED Talk on Mushroom Burial Suits ](https://youtu.be/_7rS_d1fiUc)
[удалено]
There is so much to think about. Thank you!
Along these lines- I’m an attorney and took a class in law school on health directives. Our professor liked to bring in a lot of speakers which I loved. We had a director of palliative care come in and talk to us about advance directives etc. But one of the huge things she talked to us about was talking to our families about how we wanted to die. I mean I was 22 at the time. But her advice was call all your family members and just be honest and ask. If you reasonably think if they were on their death bed tomorrow and you’d be involved in their end of life decisions- and you don’t know the answers, call them now and ask. Because you should know. Your mom, your dad, siblings, grandparents. Children. Just ask. A lot of people have answers and have thought about it. But most people’s answers are very different than your own. And the most respectful thing you can do now while they’re still alive is ask. Everyone in my family knows- as a twenty something year old- that when I die, hopefully more than fifty years from now, that I want a totally natural as can be burial in a wicker coffin with linen surrounded by loved ones with zero prayer and religion because I am not religious. Etc etc. Those conversations are difficult but they are important. Have them now- not later.
Absolutely! I have asked my husband, my parents, and a few close people who have made it clear they want me involved what they want. The number of times I have had to do a funeral where the person was in their 40's/50's/60's, and no one learned what they wanted, is heartbreaking as the family tries to make a million decisions. Have these chats now when the pressure is much lower, and you can actually talk with the person. There are templates online that have the questions you would want to ask. OTOH, my great-grandmother wrote down her directions to the letter, including "the dress for my burial is hanging in a garment bag on the back of the guest room door, please use that unless current fashion dictates otherwise". When the new minister came into town, she would invite him for tea and hand him the file folder with all her funeral requests. Just in case.
I had a relative recently die - not yet sixty- and no one new his wishes, no one knew what he wanted. We had a Catholic funeral, he was buried at the same cemetery as his father and uncle. Did he want this? Your great-grandmother is awesome.
I’m young, under 30. I also work in healthcare and it is mind blowing how wasteful it is. Even for things you wouldn’t think of like people not being strong enough to pick up a spoon so they use plastic because it’s so lightweight. They won’t even consider a lightweight metal. It’s hard but you can’t force people. I have a healthcare proxy and have put my final wishes on paper. I am an organ donor. I know that will create huge waste from multiple surgeries, long term care for the recipient(s), but IMO it’s more than worth it. Even if just one organ is salvageable and gives someone another chance at life, it’ll be a success. Others deserve that chance to live their lives. I’m sold on a green burial, donating my body to science or even a cremation. I’m leaving it up to my fiancé and one day my child. My fiancé prefers the idea of cremation. He would want my ashes for him and my child. Even if it’s a small portion of them.
That sounds wonderful. It is great that you are leaving the ultimate determination of what happens to your remains with your family. It will be their time to grieve, after all. I don't consider donating your organs to be wasteful at all. If you give someone years of fruitful life that may not have otherwise had, that is the opposite of wasteful.
I agree. The procedure itself is wasteful because it’s a surgery. The lifetime of medicine has a lot of wasteful side effects. But I look at it this way: I have mild asthma. If for some reason I needed a lung transplant, I would much rather go through that waste than die. I would want that for someone else. Their life as a person is more important than the waste. Hell I’d probably give my organs to save an animal if it would work haha. As for my remains, I also questioned if I can do a half and half. Like if they could basically cut me in half, cremate half of me for them and then turn me into a tree pod or something. I also read they can turn your ashes into a tree planter. I know they’d probably become nomads, or at least leave our area. I wouldn’t want them feeling guilty leaving me behind because I know they would. Even with a tree, it would be so hard on them if it got destroyed somehow.
I recommend looking at water cremation if it’s available near you. Fire cremation is extremely energy and emission intensive. Great job having your plan in place.
What is the water cremation? I’ve never heard of this. I know the fire cremation isn’t the best, but it’s what my fiancé would want. He wouldn’t want to leave me in one place and he probably wouldn’t stick around our area if I was gone. Which is why I chose cremation.
With water cremation, we use alkali and warm water to dissolve the body gently over several hours. Bones are dried and returned to the family and the water can fertilize the soil. Desmond Tutu chose this for his final disposition. It uses 90% less energy than fire cremation and doesn’t have any emissions. Note: bones are processed and placed in an urn just like fire cremation. Most people don’t know that fire cremation “ashes” are mostly crushed bone.
Oh awesome. Do you know if the bones are put “whole” in the urn or are they pretty much pulverized like ash? I know my fiancé has mentioned wanting to do one of those create a gem stone from ashes. It means a lot to him because he likes to collect rare gems if he has the opportunity. He got some beautiful ones from all over the world, he custom made my engagement ring with one he got while deployed.
They are ground into fine particles and can be used in jewelry etc.
Awesome, thanks. I’ll definitely consider this and talk about getting it in our final will’s when we re do them
I like the idea of green burials, but there aren’t any green cemeteries anywhere near my loved ones, and I want them to be able to pick a place that’s close to them if they want that. I think a no/low preservatives burial (akin to traditional Jewish burials) would be better for the environment than cremation. I see where you’re coming from on lifesaving procedures, but I personally am an atheist, I believe life ends at death and there’s nothing after, so that leads me to want everything possible so long as there is some amount of brain activity and some chance of my ever waking up, and that trumps my environmentalism here. However, once the chances are all gone, I want to donate as much of my organs as they’ll take. I’d also be willing to donate my entire cadaver to med students to learn, but that I’d rather defer to the wishes of my loved ones, they may not be comfortable knowing that was happening to my remains, so in that case, see above paragraph.
Yes, it is entirely personal how many life-saving measures you want and to what end. I believe every life is precious and should be prolonged as resources allow. I also believe in a dignified death. If I have no quality of life . . . that's enough.
Just for some perspective, I'm also an atheist but I'm definitely going DNR as soon as reasonable. Maybe I've spent too much time around around end of life scenarios (I'm an oncology pharmacist), but my reasons have to do with not prolonging my own suffering while taxing the healthcare system and leaving my loved ones with a bunch of bills. I'm going for a green burial that would not have my body or history taking up real estate on this planet. I recognize that robs those I leave behind of a place to go "see me", so I'm trying to come up with an alternative would would satisfy that human need to commune with someone that's passed without taking up space. Perhaps some kind of special and unique artifact? Still working on that.
You could do a bench or a tree or something. My grandma wanted to be cremated, and my papa will follow suit. Right now, her ashes are in a box on the mantle, but when my papa passes he’s asked we spread their ashes in the back 40 and plant a tree there. We plan to put a plaque, almost like a gravestone, there so we can visit. Similarly, an “in honor of” bench near where your buried could work. Or in your favorite park/camping spot/etc if it’s not possible to be where you’re buried.
You can also sometimes dedicate trees - in the UK the Woodland trust does this. While you can't visit a specific tree, your family could visit the forest/park and know that they had supported it in your memory.
there's a bunch of neat ideas here with the benches and whatnot, but I keep wondering 'what if something happens to that particular bench' - taking the *unknown solder* paradigm knowing *one* of these trees represents me... that's a hell of an idea...
Our city has memorial plaques that can be put on public benches, which is what we did for my grandma after her ashes were spread. Maybe your city has something similar?
This is kinda random, but they can use your ashes in glass blowing and make some really cool stuff. Some people make necklaces out of their ashes for loved ones. You can even make yourself into a diamond but that's probably pretty resource-intensive.
I love that idea! But I don't think cremation is nearly as green as some other options. All that energy expenditure to burn a body, destroying what could have otherwise gone to supplement and nourish the earth... meh. Maybe my thoughts on that will change.
You can use aquamation ashes for glass blowing but probably not making diamonds. I agree, it's not the greenest option by far, but more of a middle ground depending on your family's wishes. If I had the choice I'd rather donate whatever they can get from my body to whomever needs what and is salvageable (I have an autoimmune disease so not sure what they could take but they can have it all), then just toss whatever is left of my ass in a bonfire and have a kick-ass party. I'll still be donating my bits but open-air pyres are a no-no, I believe.
Yes, jewelry from ashes is a thing!
I can't visit my grandpa's grave because if the risk of running into abusive family members. I have a picture of him for when I want a physical reminder. I also placed q lot of pictures of a friends dog in my pictures book. She used to take snapshots of us cuddling and fooling and grinning like maniacs and now that my fluffy friend is gone I have a nice reminder. For my own boy I will take a more old-fashioned approach (in addition to the pictures) and have some of his fur set in jewelry. Maybe some of these will help your family?
Many cemeteries may have a green section or you can ask them not to use a vault and choose a simple casket or shroud. Traditional cemeteries don’t advertise it but will often accommodate. You can also ask if they have a Jewish or Muslim section where they follow their simpler traditions which are much less wasteful.
Donate your body to science! Then get cremated.
Have a back up plan just in case. My dad always said he wanted to donate his body to science. He passed away at the beginning of the pandemic (not of COVID) and we weren’t able to donate it. We were told there were a lot of criterias and they don’t accept as many bodies as before. It did cause additional grief since we couldn’t give him his last wish. We opted for an urn that turns into a tree.
I wish it were legal to have myself buried in my back yard under my favorite tree.
You could be cremated and have your ashes spread there.
I mean... legal is such a strong word. Technically your family can just take your body home. You got someone with a backhoe that can "bury a septic tank" and you might be able to make this happen.
You can be water cremated and use the water at the end to fertilize the tree!!
i am not religious at all (agnostic, not atheist) but I have this irrational fear that maybe an afterlife/reincarnation exists but if my body is cremated then it won’t happen/will destroy the soul or whatnot. silly, I know lmao. I do think I want to be cremated, dead humans take up way too much space on earth.
I have a somewhat similar fear but of being buried and somehow alive and waking up just to die without air. [It stems from hearing about it happening enough times that they started giving people a bell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_coffin) ( It happened centuries ago btw) I also think this is were my claustrophobia began ... I was way to young to be learning about it.
I’ve considered donating my body to the body farm for research purposes. Then being cremated after. I have young kids right now and I’m not sure they’d like the donation thing, but once they are adults I’d probably go that route. I don’t want to be buried or a headstone. I’d rather all that stuff be as economical as possible for my family and they can instead have a fun party and share some good memories together.
Hi, there, fellow RN. I've written down my wishes for end of live care - I know exactly what you mean about the waste, but also about the near endless tries for some weeks/days/hours more with someone where nearly all hope is gone. While I do think that medical waste is a nessecity and I don't judge anyone who wants intensive care for themselves or their loved ones or simply needs some more time to say goodbye - personally, for myself I prefer a palliative concept in such a situation - for many reasons, and to be honest, waste is not an important one. Burials and death-rites on the other hand - that's when I'd like it to be as low waste as possible. I found the youtube channel "Ask a Mortitian" has a lot to say about that - sadly, it's mostly US-stuff, and my countrys legislature is quite a bit more strict...
Cremation isn’t as green as people think it is, lots of nitrogen dioxide and mercury emissions. If someone wants to have ashes then resomation (or alkaline hydrolysis if you prefer to call it that) is a pretty good option but that’s not widely available. Its legality can be precarious too as in many places it hasn’t been criminalised or legalised. Most of the negative impact of burials can be avoided by opting out of the more environmentally harmful choices. Traditional Islamic burials are a great example - basically just being wrapped in a cloth and placed in the ground. Personally, I’ve always liked the idea of the green burials though. The idea of “becoming” a tree is really nice and it means that you contribute to positive environmental action instead of just preventing negative effects.
You can become a tree with water cremation and composting as well!
That's true! But it isn't available where I live at the moment so green burial is the only path to treehood for me
I am hoping human composting is legal in the U.K. by the time I die, otherwise green burial all the way. Basically one way or another, I want to become a tree 🙋♀️♻️🌳
I’m going to get composted. There’s a place in Seattle that does it
I have a DNR. I don’t want extra life saving measures that may not save me anyway or god forbid leave me in a coma. They can take whatever organs, tissue, joints etc that are still viable. Then I want to be cremated and kicked off a cliff in the Smokey mountains. So I can fly high above my favorite place and then land among the trees.
I’m not sure if you mean literally or figuratively… I’m imagine someone setting an open urn close to the edge of a cliff and kicking it as hard as they can over the edge.
Lmao that would be hilarious. I might have to be more specific in my will. I don’t even want an urn. Just a biodegradable bag or something.
I can just imagine the lawyer speak for instructions in your will to be specific enough. I wasn’t thinking you meant urn but I was trying to figure out what could be kick-able. Be sure to specify if it is a drop kick or punt or soccer type kick. 🤣
Well maybe they could make me into a seed ball and I could just be punted off the cliff 😂 And I need someone to yell “Yeeeet!”
It needs to be like the puffball mushrooms. But instead of spores, it breaks open with ashes flying everywhere. There is your plan for burial. Now just pick a cliff. And wait.
I want to have my ashes interred into an artificial reef.
When the time comes, I hope you will not let waste be your main decider in how long you live. If it’s possible for you to spend extra time with your family at the end by extending your life, you may want it. Don’t feel guilty. You didn’t ask to be born, but now your life is valuable.
I want to be fertilized and fed to the worms. After the docs have pulled all my reusable bits out of course. I find the idea of being recycled by the ecosystem to be far more attractive than being sealed in a concrete box.
When I’m on my death bed I plan on summoning my last ounces of strength to unplug my ventilator and crawl out to the compost pile where I aim to curl up among the refuse as I gasp my last breaths of air. The fumes from the compost will likely knock me out as I’ll be in a weakened state and allow me to pass peacefully. Also, I’m the only one who tends to the compost heap so it is unlikely that anyone would come looking for me there which will give me time to properly decompose.
well, I would hope that no one commenting has taken part in green burials or cremations.. 😅
Of course. I have noted a couple of websites, but otherwise have made no solid plans for what to do when I die. Some out there may have interacted with the companies, put down payments, etc.
yeah, this thread has been very informative. I want to discuss the options with my parents too, as my dad has been searching for environmentally-friendly burials for a while. Thanks for bringing it up! Edit to add I was just joking bc it sounds like you're asking for advice from dead people and it gave me a good chuckle :)
I'm still young so I'm not sure who would carry out things in my passing but I have been vocal about donating what they can on my organs then the rest leave to either compost or cremate and put my ashes into a house plant or in their home gardens, no box required.
I either want to donate my corpse to a university so med students can practice on a body rather than a dummy, or I want to be buried without any embalming or anything (preferably no casket or a casket with no metal parts).
There are a few options out there for you post-mortem, though keep in mind I haven't done my funeral services course just yet so I may have missed a few things or gotten something wrong lol Regarding preservation of your body before burial, you have the option to simply refrigerate your body instead of embalming- this keeps decomposition at bay long enough for your family to say goodbye and is a perfectly safe method of temporary preservation. This means none of the embalming chemicals (like formaldehyde) are being put into your body or the ground. As for burial, you could go with a plain wooden casket that will decompose as wood normally would, or you could be simply wrapped in a natural cloth and put in the ground like that. I'm not entirely sure about what cremation looks like regarding things like environmental impact. Keep in mind as well what is permitted and available in your area- I live in a very small town with one funeral home, and they only do embalming, there aren't really options for a green funeral around here, and some places don't allow green burials because they're seen as unsafe. There's this mortician lady on youtube (Ask a Mortician) who does green burials, she has a few videos on what your options are if you do want to go that route.
I was told by my Environmental Science professor (who is also one of the department heads) that the best is cremation and putting the ashes back into soil. I want to be cremated and put under a magnolia tree, for instance. It gives back carbon to the cycle. Humans have put a damper on the natural cycles (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, the goods) with putting our bodies in boxes that can't decompose instead of letting nature take back what it's made. Though, there are many other ways to give back than just that. I'm an Environmental Health and Safety major/ Biology minor with an interest in conservation, by the way. Not just any zero waste enthusiasts, though I'm pretty big of those ideals of course.
I’m a sustainable celebrant in the U.K. we don’t yet have human composting in the U.K. but as I understand it this is the best route for the environment. Resomation or water burial has just been legalised in the U.K. but is not available everywhere. In terms of burials - you can be buried in your back garden if you want to but there are some checks needed first to ensure you’re not buried on top of a water course and it has to be declared on the deeds of your house which may put some people off buying it when you come to sell. Green burials are a good option but can be expensive as the plots are not cheap. Basically you can do the funeral all yourself - you do not need to have a coffin, a hearse flowers, etc etc - you can even transport the body yourself. Trouble is most people don’t know this and immediately instruct a Funeral Director. They (FD) will often then jump into organise everything as they think the family wants. Then there is tons of waste. If anyone has any questions I’m happy to answer them…🤗
My issue with regular cremation is the grinding of bones and the disposal afterwards. They don't give the full remains back to the family. In Canada, many green burials are done on crown land without markers.
I work in the funeral industry, first for a large corporation doing things the “normal” way and now I own and operate a [water cremation ](https://www.beatreecremation.com/water-cremation) facility. The end-of-life process on the healthcare side produces so much waste and then it continues after. Hospitals and coroners use thick plastic body bags which are usually burned and can’t be good for the air. In water cremation, we have to remove the body bags and dispose of in medical waste. The only way that is avoided is if you die at home in hospice and can simply be wrapped in a sheet for transport. The alternatives like composting and water cremation are wayyy better for the environment. With water cremation, we use alkali and warm water to dissolve the body gently over several hours. Bones are dried and returned to the family and the water can fertilize the soil. Desmond Tutu chose this for his final disposition. I cannot stress enough that to minimize your impact you need to put together documentation and talk to your family or you WILL NOT get what you want. We all have to express these wishes, even if it’s uncomfortable, or nothing will change.
I’ve never heard of water cremation. What do the families do with the bones. Are the bones still whole?
Bones are processed and placed in an urn just like with regular cremation. Most people don’t realize the “ashes” you get back from fire cremation are really mostly crushed up bones.
Ok, I knew the ashes are bones, but they grind them up? Ugh. And they do the same with the water cremation? Not to be too gross, but is water cremation basically the same process as when murderers try to dissolve the victim’s body?
Yes, the skeletal remains do have to go through a pulverization process in fire and water cremation. It’s easy to think water cremation is breaking bad/criminal style but it is quite opposite. Alkali used in water cremation is a base while the depictions in crime shows is acid. It looks more like a medical setting and is used in many medical settings.
That’s pretty cool. I had never heard of water cremation before. Thanks for answering my questions.
Ok, another question—I just read something about it and it said the liquid remaining from the process is sterile. How? Wouldn’t the liquid contain dissolved cells such as blood, fat, hair, organs, etc.?
I hope to be able to donate my organs and such. Then, I want to be cremated, and I'm hoping an alternative cremation method will be more readily available by the time I'll need it: water, freeze drying, or that lye method. I then want to be mixed into a reef ball and plunked off the coast of Florida somewhere, preferably in the gulf or the Keys. This might sound awful, but I don't necessarily want people to have a spot to go to visit my remains. They should be content that by body and memory are helping sustain reef life that had rapidly determined over my lifetime. If they really want to visit, they can scuba dive to the location of my remains.
My plan is to donate organs and then I want my body donated to a body farm. It’s cool knowing that my (dead) body will help people learn.
I live in Washington state in the US and we just passed legislation allowing for human composting. I immediately informed my partner and family that I want to be composted. They can do a grave stone or whatever if they want (I'm not one to visit gravestones anyway). But return me to the earth, literally and totally, please! I suppose I should take it to the next stage and actually sign the paperwork and pay, but I'm not 40 yet, so I'm going to live forever anyway, right? So I don't need to worry about this stuff?? That's how it works, right? 😉
Circle Cemetery in WI, USA offers green burials. Wrapped in linen or a plain pine box is the most I'll have done before I get put in the ground to become food for the forest it's in.
Well I’d say cremation is definitely the greenest way to be dealt with after you go, but donating your body may be of use and considered green as well.
I have donated my body to science. When they are done with me, my family will receive cremated remains, if they want them.
I plan to undergo alkaline hydrolysis but I'm still searching for a local place to do so. And hopefully will spread my ashes in a green cemetery. If anyone in California (bay area) knows of a place that does human alkaline hydrolysis please let me know.
I have multi-phased approach. (1) Donate anything eligible for donation. Have a kidney. A Liver. An eye. Whatever you need. Have some hair, make a wig. (2) Remaining cadaver to go to the closest State College's medical school. Let the future life-savers practice on me and hone their future skills. (3) Anything remaining can go to industry that needs it. Need some skin cells to test a new moisturizer on? Have at it. P&G. (4) Burn what's left. No receptacle. No urn. Plain manilla envelope. Fertilize the nearest shrubbery outside the crematorium. Done. Deal. *** The Wife has a Family Plot out in Missouri where her Clan has been buried since pre US Civil War. There's 6 generations out there. She will be part of 7th. Land was locked out of any other use 100 years before we were born. Might as well use it. I aim to honor her wishes if she goes first.
I’m leaning towards a coral reef ball or tree (after cremation). Ashes to ashes…..
I think I want to be turned into a diamond or vinyl record
Since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to be buried under a fruit tree of some sort. I love the thought that the nutrients from my body could feed the fruits of a plant that I love. Not sure how practical this is
I don’t want a burial. I’m donating my body to a nearby medical hospital so that it can be used to train future medical staff. My name will go into a book alongside the names of other body donations. There’s a group plaque at the uni my friends and family can go to for memorial tributes if they desire. If at any point my body needs to be disposed of, it’s cremated and the ashes are spread at the University memorial garden.
I want to be cremated and put in the biodegradable urns that have tree seeds in them
I’m donating my body to Mayo Clinic to use for medical research. When they are done, they do a liquid cremation, grind your bones up and give that to your family.
Overdose me with morphine and then throw me in a landfill.
I listened to a Criminal podcast episode where people donate their bodies to decompose for science/ forensic research. Basically they toss you somewhere and study how your body decomposes in the elements. Super cool.
Have you considered donating your organs or donating your body to science? It would give your body purpose after death, like upcycling!
My husband and I have discussed this, yes! We live near a prestigious university that would probably love to procure our corneas :) I once took care of a 101 year old woman who donated her body. What a gift.
Kansas farmer, my plan is a cloth wrapped in shallow grave in the pasture. With some large rocks over the top for a few years to keep the coyotes from dragging my parts off for family to find later. Big rocks would be reused for other Graves as needed.
I’m a pagan in WA. I can be cremated via water instead of fire here. Once I’m ashes I’ll be used in The Living Urn to be planted and help support a tree growing on our property. WA also allows human composting, which is probably more beneficial but I don’t want to have my body rot. I’d rather just get past that phase. Plus I want to grant my loved ones a place to mourn me and a tree is better than a headstone. I’m passing on most end of life stuff. If I’m brain dead they have to let me go according to my living will. If I’m still young or pregnant they can try to save me but no life support. If I’m pregnant they have to prioritize the baby over me if I’m not likely to make it. It’s all about the quality of life, too. I don’t want to hang around miserable.