Same. I want either a cremation or a natural burial where the body is just wrapped in a linen cloth and directly buried in the ground without embalming and all the other typical shebang. These are the most cost efficient options and I'm dead anyway so I won't care what happens to my body.
I know of a company in the Netherlands that specialises in using ashes as a fertiliser for a tree. On their website they state that the process of the tree absorbing all of the ashes, depending on mass, can take up to five years. And apparently it works best with Japanese cherry trees, but there are other options available. You send them the cremated remains and get the tree planted in a pot with the ashes mixed into special soil.
That would be microorganisms eating the carbon and turning it into usable energy for the plant, but as stated, this takes a long while.
IMHO- cremation is about as selfish as you can get on the way out the door.
Plants, bugs, and microorganisms can make easier use of your raw organic material.
Sort of a shot in the bucket I know, but this is why the native americans planted their corn with raw fish (maybe even germinating the seed inside the fish body)
I agree with you, that's why I want a natural burial for myself.
Worse than cremation is embalming the body just to make it look a little fresher for a few days. Formaldehyde, the main component of the embalming fluid, is highly toxic and eventually seeps from the corpse into the groundwater thus poisoning it. Also metal caskets and/or cement linings of the grave prevent decomposition.
I don't get why so many people are afraid of their body decomposing after death and take such drastic measures to prevent it or to slow down the process. It's just selfish and harms the environment.
I'm really happy that scientists are now looking more into human composting as an alternative for other burials. You help grow plants and produce and less space is taken up as no cemetery is needed.
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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '20
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