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Eco death don’t read if you’re depressed ?

(37 Posts)
BlueSky Wed 19-Feb-20 08:14:52

I decided long ago for the Green Natural Burial Ground in a eco friendly basket. The best alternative for me to traditional cemeteries or cremation.

Baggs Wed 19-Feb-20 08:04:14

The Tibetan method was used in India too until pesticides started affecting vulture numbers. I wonder if they've managed to sort that out yet. I've told my offspring they can feed me to vultures if they want. I don't care what they do with my carcass, not a jot.

PS We had some kind of compost activator to sprinkle into the Green Cone composter I mentioned above. Nothing toxic.

Eglantine21 Wed 19-Feb-20 08:00:15

When I was in Tibet I was, initially, absolutely horrified by the way in which they disposed of bodies.

They chop them up into pieces and then either place the bits in the open air for birds and animals or in the rivers for fish to eat. When the bones are picked clean they are ground and scattered.

However, not only is it the ultimate eco friendly disposal, it chimes with their religious beliefs of life continuing in another life.

It always seems a bit adrift that religions that believe in the continuance of the individual soul attach such importance to the dead body.

Baggs Wed 19-Feb-20 08:00:00

We had a bone composting system in the garden for some years, for chicken carcasses and lamb joint bones, etc. It worked well. You put all kinds of other food waste in it as well like vegetable peelings and so on.

When I eventually dig it out (the composting happened underground; check out Green Cone composting), I found only a few tiny scraps of bone which, considering what we'd out into it over the years, was amazing.

I like the idea of composting burials. You can't do better, environmentally, than recycling your star dust so efficiently.

Grammaretto Wed 19-Feb-20 07:57:10

Riverwalk grin
There are a couple of green burial grounds near us. Very low key. No stones. Wicker or card coffin. Occasional planting of trees.
DH wants a mention on the family stone but I suppose that could happen without a coffin.
I learned from a Canadian that, in winter, they have to protect the bodies from wild animals and wait till the ground is soft enough to dig.
It'll be fire for me.

Oopsadaisy3 Wed 19-Feb-20 07:53:03

True riverwalk but our families or whoever is having to organise our funerals might want to be steered in a particular direction.
DD 1 has already told us in writing what she wants to happen after her death, but it doesn’t make easy reading when she is so young.

eebeew Wed 19-Feb-20 07:52:44

We are going to opt for a natural burial. The council here has provided land next to the traditional cemetery. You are buried in a natural untreated coffin in the upper layers of soil and a tree is planted over your burial site. I like the idea of returning to the earth more naturally and of contributing to the land.

www.goodfuneralguide.co.uk/what-is-a-green-funeral/

Riverwalk Wed 19-Feb-20 07:49:03

To be honest it's bad enough having eco worries when alive never mind worrying about my dead body!

Oopsadaisy3 Wed 19-Feb-20 07:42:17

I read about this apparently bones do compost, the temperatures are very high they use a kind of pod.
I need to have another look as I imagine they must use a lot of energy to get the heat for 6 weeks or so.

janeainsworth Wed 19-Feb-20 07:34:30

Bones wouldn’t compost in a few weeks would they Riverwalk?
Not without the use of strong acids. (Though you can dissolve teeth in coca-cola)

Riverwalk Wed 19-Feb-20 07:14:39

I heard something on the radio just the other day - think it was from the US - composting human remains. I think it was university research rather than some wacky company, along the lines of corpse in cardboard box, composting material of some sort put on top and after a few weeks, the body is compost. That sounds very eco-friendly.

BlueBelle Wed 19-Feb-20 06:44:27

My family have always been buried and I was just following on without giving it too much thought However I recently was thinking perhaps cremation is the way to go but then the eco problem came into my head, realising that crematoriums have a big and growing carbon footprint
Have you had thoughts about this or are you just following family tradition