What To Do When You're Dead: Science Edition

[Playinghardball]

"Every man dies. Not every man really lives." -William Wallace, Braveheart

Nobody really wants to think about their own mortality, but the cold truth is that sooner or later, it’s going to happen. Now, your personal beliefs on whether or not you will ascend to Heaven, reincarnate, or simply just be dead don’t really matter; you’re going to leave a body behind when you go. It has now become a custom to either pump dead bodies full of formaldehyde and seal them into a steel and concrete vault or be cremated and have the ashes just sit in an urn.

An increasing number of people are choosing to do more with their bodies after they are gone in an effort to be more eco-friendly, help advance scientific knowledge, or do something awesome that couldn’t be achieved in life.

Here are some of the coolest science-friendly options available:

If you want to be buried

Decomposable coffin:

Burial is pretty much the standard way that most humans have been burying each other for at least 130,000 years. As the body decomposes, it can release nutrients to the soil. Modern caskets and vaults deny this opportunity. For those who would like to carry on the tradition of being laid to rest after death, there are a variety of eco-friendly options.

While some prefer a plain pine box, there are also attractive biodegradable options made from paper, cardboard, and wicker. Some cemeteries have restrictions on the type of vessel and shrouds the deceased can be buried in, so that is something to consider ahead of time.

Mushroom food:

In order to expedite your body’s decomposition, you may want to invest in the Infinity Burial Suit. The death suit has mushroom spores embroidered into the fabric. An alternative embalming fluid is used after death, which helps facilitate mushroom growth. Not only does this have the benefits of biodegradable coffins, but it actually takes it a step further by purifying the soil from the toxins already in your body.

As the body decomposes, the mushrooms take up the preservatives, mercury, lead, and other toxins that have accumulated over a lifetime. Those toxins then become fixed in the mushroom and are not left to pollute the soil. In 2011, the suit’s inventor Jae Rhim Lee gave a TED Talk and explained the suit in detail.

If you want to be cremated

Biodegradable urns:

For those who prefer to be cremated but don’t want to end up in some ornate urn on a mantel (before ultimately getting knocked over and vacuumed up at some point), the ashes can be buried. While there are many options for biodegradable urns for water or ground burials, some places have restrictions on where ashes can be spread.

Urna Bios has become the premiere company for turning ashes into memorial trees or plants. The urns are made from coconut shell and contains compacted peat and cellulose. The ashes are mixed with this, and a seed is placed inside.When buried, the tree seed is nourished by and absorbs the nutrients from the ashes. You can even choose which type of tree you'd like to grow!

The urns do not have an expiration date, so they can be purchased well ahead of time and saved for when they are needed. Any type of seed is compatible to be planted, so you can choose a tree seed native to the area to ensure its best growth.

Save the oceans:

Due to many factors including pollution and climate change, the world’s oceans are losing coral reefs at an alarming rate. Considering reefs are incredible sources of marine biodiversity, this is fairly problematic. Those who were an advocate for sea conservation in life, can physically help rebuild reefs in death.

Eternal Reefs combines a person’s ashes with concrete and is molded into a shape that mimics the natural growth pattern of a reef. Additional concrete is added and family members can add handprints, write messages, or embed keepsakes like a plaque or military medals. Family members can be involved with as much or as little of the process as they would like, from the initial casting to placing it in the water.


Read more at http://www.iflscience.com/environment/what-do-when-youre-dead-science-edition#WDZx0hbw86jgfQxy.99

[Glassunion]

1. I commute daily on a motorcycle

So in all probability some other driver will end up painting several hundred feet of asphalt with my body, and I will come to rest a jelly like substance with a really neat leather jacket.

[littlemissmartypants]

2. Glad to know that you have made Peace with that. eom

[VanGoghRocks]

6. Thanks for that wry humor. After this week's rage and sadness, much

appreciated!

[Glassunion]

7. It is what it is. nt

[littlemissmartypants]

3. Please consider anatomical gifts.

http://medschool.duke.edu/education/anatomical-gifts-program

Thank you.
Lmsp

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. I want my body to be used as a medical school cadaver.

I'm an organ donor, so after all that is done I want what's left to go to a medical school. When they are done with me, cremate me, dig a hole, pour me in and plant an oak tree.

I'm tempted to find a way to ensure I swallow a capsule with a note for the med students before I kick the bucket.

Not sure what I will write, but it has to be funny.

[Ms. Toad]

11. For that you need to make arrangements in advance -

and you probably have to choose between organ donation and cadaver.

Check with the teaching university nearest you. My grandparents both donated their bodies - and my mother has made arrangements for the second time to donate hers (you need to be within a certain distance from the school that will receive your body). (I don't believe either pf u grandparents were used as cadavers - but they were used for educational purposes and research. And what was left at the end nourished my grandfather's favorite kind of tree on the farm where I grew up.)

[VanGoghRocks]

5. I want to come back as a flea, so I can bite some rich Republican prick

in the ass.

[Glassunion]

8. Isn't that how the Black Plague started?

[VanGoghRocks]

9. Sigh. Thanks for dashing cold water on my personal post-mortem

ambitions!

[MFM008]

10. mushroom suit?

I would end up in someones salad.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. For some people, that's when the real adventure STARTS!

[littlemissmartypants]

13. You amaze me. nt

[littlemissmartypants]

14. Thanks for your post, Playinghardball.

Interesting thread.

Love, Peace and Shelter.
Lmsp

[littlemissmartypants]

15. Kicking. Thank you. nt

[DesertFlower]

16. i'm going to be cremated. my late husband was

cremated and i have his ashes in a beautiful marble urn. my cat was recently cremated and is in an urn. my will reads that i'm to be cremated and my ashes mixed with my husbands. my cat died recently but my executor knows i want his ashes mixed with ours.

i hadn't decided what i wanted done with the ashes and my friend and executor suggested they be sprinkled around my property. i live on 2-1/2 acres in the middle of the desert.

my friend passed in '01 and his ashes were sprinkled on my property before our house was built.

my mom was cremated. her wish.

i come from a family who had elaborate funerals. the tradition was broken with my mom. her relatives had already passed. that whole generation is gone.

i went to funerals but never visited graves after that. i had relatives and in-laws who made a big deal out of doing that and putting flowers on the graves. such a waste of money which could be contributed to charity.

when my grandma passed in '73 my mom said to me "don't you think there's something sick about sitting around for 3 days looking at a dead body".

[pansypoo53219]

17. i am donating myself to science. i want my feet to amaze them. been barefooting nearly

all year in wi since 2000 or so.

[onethatcares]

18. as John Prine would sing

Please don't bury me
down in that cold, cold ground
no, I'd rather have them cut me up
and pass me all a round.