Adding to the sundry….

That meme that’s going around (specifically aoife_ife‘s result) reminded me of another really cool thing from PopSci!

For those of you that have trouble deciding whether you want to be buried or cremated, or what the hell you are gonna do when you die, there is this german guy that has developed an awesome solution to what to do with your body [you know you think about it all the time!]. Instead of sitting in a coffin underground and waiting for the worms to get to you someday, or being burnt to ashes, thereby reducing you to nothing useful, or spending gazillions of dollars to turn your body into a finished diamond (yes folks, you can do that!), you can be cryogenically frozen and dehydrated then crushed to smitherines!

But wait, that’s not all….

After you have been turned to this powder (much like flour), you get put into a little box and buried. This box is made of something (dammit I forgot what it is, don’t have the magazine with me at the mo’) that will biodegrade quickly, and the powder [not being ashes] will be able to provide the earth with nutrients, thus taking a better part in the circle of life.

And get this, this process only costs about $1,000 US total. Compare that to your average $8,000 burial service! It is only in Europe right now, but I will research this when it gets to the US and will seriously consider this as a way to go, after I go.

I wish I could remember what it was called. Damn me for leaving my magazine at home. And damn my memory! lol

12 Responses to "Adding to the sundry…."

claresheppard says:

February 1, 2006 at 10:51 pm

Just thought I’d pop in and say that when I die, I want my ashes to be put in a firework and set off at the end of a huge party somewhere that has meant a lot to me in my life (not sure where yet, may not even have been there yet!) while so that I can go out in a blaze of colour, light and noise as the final flourish to a bloody great night. Hopefully the party will bring joy to the ones I love, and the firework to anyone watching my final attention grabbing stunt!
1. anitza says:
  
  February 1, 2006 at 10:56 pm
  
  That sounds glorious!
2. brassdollfin says:
  
  February 2, 2006 at 7:17 pm
  
  Wow, that sounds really cool. Both of those sound a lot more like something I would want than either of the traditional options.
rockin16 says:

February 2, 2006 at 12:08 am

My mom is adament that she is to be cremated and turned into a diamond (or…er…some sort of mom jewel?)
1. anitza says:
  
  February 2, 2006 at 12:22 am
  
  Well, tell her to start saving up, it costs around $20,000 to be turned into a yellow diamond.
aoife_ife says:

February 2, 2006 at 12:43 am

As appealing as being turned into jewelry sounds, I can’t help but wonder how it will be explained by the lucky wearer after I’m dead and gone…

“oh, what a pretty ring!”
“thank you, it’s my mom.”
“oh, it belonged to your mother? Like an heirloom?”
“Uh….not exactly.”

I’m loving the eco friendly burial thingie, though. That’s exactly the sort of thing I’d like to do with myself when I die. I had a biology teacher that used to be adament that if we all truly cared about the earth we would make our family dump us in the woods when we went, so the ecosystem could get a higher benefit from us than it would if we were say…stuffed in a fiberglass box six feet under a manicured lawn.

*shrug*
1. anitza says:
  
  February 2, 2006 at 12:54 am
  
  Oh I agree with everything you said 150%!
  
  Instead of going back into the world as resources and energy, we just take up space when we are dead.
  
  And the whole diamond thing, although I can understand the appeal, I find it weird. Imagine family feuds over who gets gramma? *shudders*
2. mauvaise_etoile says:
  
  February 2, 2006 at 1:54 am
  
  *dies*
  
  Though, perhaps that’s not the correct word to use here? ;P
  
  Um, the diamond thing sounds wicked cool though. I wish to be mummified, but it is doubtful that will happen as its hella expensive. D’you reckon I could be turned into a pink diamond?
bird_mom says:

February 2, 2006 at 12:52 am

That sounds like a good plan, dollar-wise as well. I remember reading something in the L.A. Times within the last five or so years about a cemetary in Northern California that is practicing green burials, where the bodies are not embalmed nor put in elaborate coffins on inhumation. I believe they’re buried in shrouds, so they can go to dust as they were meant to do. The expense of the average burial seems a waste to me. And 200 years from now, no one is going to be visiting me or John, so why take up the land? Personally, I want to be cremated and scattered off of Waiamea Bay, my favorite beach in the entire world. I will surf the big winter waves for eternity that way ;p…
nasubionna says:

February 2, 2006 at 3:57 am

I totally heard about that, and I SO want to do that. I can only hope that it’s available in the U.S. by the time I go…
canutius says:

February 2, 2006 at 8:17 am

Sounds good. Know where I can get more info on this? I have seriously got to make a will or something and that should probably be included.

On that note, you might find this article http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4645896.stm interesting. Yet another reason to go with being turned into flour.
1. anitza says:
  
  February 2, 2006 at 5:57 pm
  
  I finally got the magazine back, and the process is called “promession” and was developed by a swedish woman, not a german guy. Ah my memory…. I will make an updated post with the info I have. Thanks for the link!

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