'Eco-burial' turns bodies into compost

[The Straight Story]

'Eco-burial' turns bodies into compost


STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 15 (UPI) -- A Swedish company promoting "green" burials says it will turn frozen corpses into compost, bringing new meaning to "ashes to ashes, dust to dust."

Returning to the earth in an ecologically friendly manner that nourishes the soil is an idea Swedish scientist Susanne Wiigh-Masak has been working on for most of a decade, The Local reported Wednesday.

"We need to look at how we can take care of all organic material, including us. Our options today are definitely not appealing -- slowly rotting in the soil or destroying the body by burning it in a way that is not gentle," she says.

Wiigh-Masak said she wants to bring this 100 percent ecological burial alternative she calls "promession" to the wider world.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/04/15/Eco-burial-turns-bodies-into-compost/UPI-92721302909317/

[GKirk]

1. I'm not sprinkling grandma

in my garden. She'd make the lettuce bitter.

[Skidmore]

18. My brother in law's wife died a few years ago

and it was her wish to be sprinkled in her beloved rose garden. Her wish was honored. I stop and say "hi" to her on the way to the front door every time we visit. I'm asking to be scattered on the prairie.

[hobbit709]

2. I plan on being cremated.

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. That's what I want

[Lasher]

4. The Soylent Green Mortuary.

Plow your departed loved one under out in the cornfield.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. We already have a composting heap of bodies in D.C.

[koffeekup]

5. What is next? Cattle feed out of the deceased?

Good grief.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

14. Way to channel Glenn Beck...

bra-vo.

[postulater]

6. Maybe I'll end up as food for the baby eaglets. Watch it live on eaglecam!

[Capitalocracy]

7. Bringing new meaning to dust to dust?

More like bringing back the original meaning.

[theophilus]

9. It makes sense to me. Our current mortuary practices are silly. I think the

circle of life thing is laudable....as long as it is done right.

[Capitalocracy]

10. This has always been what I wanted

Don't pump me full of plastic, just let me rot. I'm biodegradable

[cliffordu]

13. Yep. I'd like to do a stretch at one of those body farms......

Then off to the Coyotes.....One last grand tour. Heh.

[Ron Green]

8. I like it.

Makes sense practically and symbolically.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

11. Cremation, getting mixed in a reef ball and tossed into the Caribbean...

works for me, but this would too.

[eppur_se_muova]

15. Burial without embalming or a coffin accomplishes the same thing.

Modern embalming developed mostly so soldiers could be sent home for burial.

Interesting to note that Muslims bury their dead unembalmed, in a simple shroud, on the same day as death (except when bodies are held for autopsy). GASP!! Does this mean -- environmentalists are secret MOOOOSLIMS? (note to Fox News: My agent will contact you re. royalty payments.)

[YellowRubberDuckie]

21. They cannot cut into Muslim bodies or have the organs cut out for autopsy purposes.

They have to find ways around it or they cannot find peace in the afterlife.
Duckie

[LibertyLover]

16. Circle Sanctuary, a pagan group,

just had their first green burial in their recently consecrated green burial ground. I wish they weren't so far away from me because that is a great idea. I don't plan on dying soon, but it would be great to have an alternative to cremation.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

22. Donate your body to the Body Farm.

You'll help solve murders while your body is decomposing. And then when it has gone to bones, they'll cremate you and return you to your family. I'm seriously considering doing this.
Duckie

[WatsonT]

17. Just burn them and use it for heat

they did that in Sweden with rabbits. And those are a lot cuter than dead people.

[GKirk]

19. I always liked the idea of...

...having ashes scattered to the wind from an airplane.
Except I don't want to be cremated. So I think I'll just have
them toss my body out of a plane after I die. I'll be a nice surprise in someone's backyard. :)

[Countdown_3_2_1]

20. I want to be cremated and scattered over DisneyWorld

My survivors will need to be sneaky about it. But it can be done.
---just not in "Its a Small World" please!

[csziggy]

23. Why freeze the bodies? Did they get off on the scene in "Fargo"?

I guess in Sweden it's easy to freeze bodies - not so much here in Florida. I used to want to be cremated, but cremation is not "green" - uses too much energy and can release toxins into the environment.

I want to be wrapped in a cotton sheet, stuck in the ground and a tree planted on the spot as the only memorial. Something that will provide lots of biomass for the wildlife to live on.