The responsibility to take care of the planet belongs to everyone, even after death.
According to the Green Burial Society of Canada, green burials are an environmentally responsible practice because, unlike traditional burials, it does not make use of toxic chemicals, such as formaldehyde with steel and concrete or acres of grass in cemeteries that make use of fertilizers and water. It is, therefore, a more responsible way of transcending this world in which the body returns to the earth to decompose naturally, making it possible to create a new life.
New York-based Startup Transcend will launch in the United States to give people the opportunity to become a tree after they pass away. This initiative was founded by Matthew Kochmann who was inspired by the Capsula Mundi, a biodegradable egg-shaped coffin developed by the Italians Raoul Bretzel and Anna Citelli, on which a tree is planted.
Transcend seeks to reinvent cemeteries as forests through green burials, not only to contribute to the cause of the environment but also for people to have a positive impact after death.
What exactly do green burials consist of?
Transcend describes the following process for green burials: customers choose the type of tree relevant to their preferred burial site -land provided by the company-. When the client passes away, their body is prepared in biodegradable linen and buried together with a mixture of wood chips, local soil, and fungi to simplify the composting process. Then, a tree is planted on the body to absorb all the nutrients that the body releases.
What is the biggest challenge of green burials?
According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), one of the biggest challenges is price since Transcend’s funeral package ($8,500) is more expensive than the average price of a funeral with burial ($7,848) or cremation ($6,971). Transcend points out that it is currently a challenge to make people aware of the need to make a responsible decision about their death. However, the idea of transcending through a tree has received support from important people, such as filmmaker Darren Aronofsky and human decomposition expert Jennifer Debruyn, a microbial biologist at the University of Tennessee’s Body Farm.
Living forests contribute to sustaining the planet, benefiting people, plants, and animals because they function as a carbon store. They also help control global climate and precipitation.
Today, most people prefer traditional burial and cremation; however, when they learn about green burials (and other options), they reconsider their choices.
The International Iberoamerican University (UNIB) in Puerto Rico offers programs to learn more about environmental problems. One of them is the Master in Environmental Management and Audits.
Photo: All rights reserved. Source: What are green burials and why could they help the planet?
