After talking about many different ways of disposing of the dead the
last few weeks in class, I’ve heard many people say they love the idea of planting a
tree over their remains or giving themselves back to the earth. But what about having your remains become a part of a tree?
This company in Spain has created a biodegradable urn called “Bios
Urn” and it is a green alternative to dispose of your body. The urn has a seed
of any tree of your choosing inside of it, the cremated ashes are placed inside and the urn is
buried in a location of your choice. The ashes help fertilize the seed and aid
it in growing into a full size tree, enabling you to help the environment even
after death and to give back to the earth. However, this green burial does not help solve the problem of pollution that cremations
create, but it does allow one to have themselves return to the earth and help repopulate
your favorite tree and remain in your favorite location after death. This is definitely a neat way to use your remains in a meaningful way, and something I would consider for myself.
You can watch a video about it here.
Links: one and two.
After some thought I began to wonder what happens if the seed doesn't take? Or what if the tree becomes diseased and needs to be severely cut back or cut down? How would they handle that? Would they treat it as a normal tree and do what needed to be done to keep it and the surrounding ones healthy? Or would the family have to give permission before anything was done? Also, what happens in a few hundred years once the tree dies or anyone who knew about the tree is gone. Because you can't use a marker of any kind, that defeats its purpose, yes there is an online database and place for them to be recognized, but you never know what will be around or recognized as official documentation in the future. And what kind of rights does the tree have as a burial, if you plant it in your favorite place and in 100 years or so they want to clear it for housing or something like that, what happens then?
After some thought I began to wonder what happens if the seed doesn't take? Or what if the tree becomes diseased and needs to be severely cut back or cut down? How would they handle that? Would they treat it as a normal tree and do what needed to be done to keep it and the surrounding ones healthy? Or would the family have to give permission before anything was done? Also, what happens in a few hundred years once the tree dies or anyone who knew about the tree is gone. Because you can't use a marker of any kind, that defeats its purpose, yes there is an online database and place for them to be recognized, but you never know what will be around or recognized as official documentation in the future. And what kind of rights does the tree have as a burial, if you plant it in your favorite place and in 100 years or so they want to clear it for housing or something like that, what happens then?
oh this is so neat !
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly! But I wonder what happens if the seed doesn't take? Or what if the tree becomes diseased and needs to be severely cut back or cut down? How would they handle that? Would they treat it as a normal tree and do what needed to be done to keep it and the surrounding ones healthy? Or would the family have to give permission before anything was done? Also, what happens in a few hundred years once the tree dies or anyone who knew about it is gone. Because you can't use a marker of any kind, that defeats its purpose, yes there is an online recognition and place for them but you never know what will be around or recognized in the future. And what kind of rights does the tree have as a burial, if you plant it in your favorite place and in 100 years or so they want to clear it for housing or something like that, what happens then?
DeleteThese are all hypothetical ... just things I thought of after reading up on it and thinking about it. But this is definitely a cool way to have your remains disposed of and something I would certainly consider.
Those questions you bring up are really interesting Branwen! My research project in class is on the disturbance of Coast Salish burial grounds, and there is a large struggle between First Nation communities, developers and the law. Does the tree representing someone who dies today have any less value than an ancient burial ground? I think even though ancient burial sites have an added value of being an archaeological site, the tree today is still as culturally significant. But will developers of the future consider looking through the records you mentioned, or will the trees become an ancient and forgotten burial ground?
ReplyDelete