Dealing with Death

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Recently a gentleman I knew passed away.

He had been married for a short while, was expecting a new life with his wife and then suddenly and quite unexpectedly died. The community that I grew up in is still reeling from his death and the financial repercussions facing his young wife are enormous as she takes his body to its final resting place.

The rituals that surround death and burial are both cultural and social. Ancient Egyptians buried their dead in special tombs that had been built during their lifetime, as did the Nubians and Chinese. Muslims wrap their dead in brilliant white sheets, Indians take baths in the Ganges and Native Americans also had sophisticated burial ceremonies. Elaborate rituals the World over surround death to ensure that the soul of the deceased person either finds peace or is ushered into Heaven. Even today, in some churches, people are urged to pray for the deceased. Death mystifies us and challenges scientists who work hard to understand it and possibly thwart its efforts to remove us from those we have come to love and respect.

Current western funerals and burials vary widely, many having the ritual of a well preserved body, dressed and displayed for people to pay their respects, laying quietly in a large casket that will be lowered into the ground. This often means that a burial plot has to be purchased as well as the casket. Sometimes if the person cannot afford to buy a plot, they lease it for 20+ years after which it will be sold/rented. If you have not prepared for your eventual demise, the cost of being buried can escalate tremendously, leaving those you love in debt.

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Martín Azúa, a designer who lives and works in Barcelona, has come up with a new idea.
Bios Urn (picture to the left) is an urn made of biodegradable substances including cellulose, peat and coconut shell. Once your remains have been cremated and placed into the urn, a seed is planted in the middle of it and put in the ground. You can even choose which plant you want, leaving a living legacy  of eco-responsibility behind.

For me the choice has always been simple. I will be cremated. Now I can be planted as well. Hopefully not by the side of a lonely dusty highway, but in a park or forest.

It is difficult to find something that would ease the passing of a loved one. I am of the opinion that a beautiful tree that lives hundreds of years is far better than an expensive tombstone that no one really visits.