A green afterlife

Plant a tree

As time itself and today’s culture change faster than most can keep pace with, it’s no surprise that even traditional ways we’ve laid loved ones to eternal rest could be dramatically evolving.

Rather than being absorbed into acres of etched marble and stone, imagine becoming part of a vibrant growing tree marked with one’s name stretching across vast gardens of immaculately kept forests.

I know, the concept seems at first blush undignified, maybe a tad creepy to some. Yet the more I considered my lifeless remains one day becoming part of something majestic and supporting new life in this world, the more intriguing it seemed.

Today we have few choices if we aren’t buried at sea: A casket in a graveyard or mausoleum, burned to ashes, or frozen in a cryogenic tank, if we have enough money and desire for such folly.

But now, Italian designers Raoul Bretzel and Anna Citelli have developed a biodegradable burial pod (aka casket) that eventually converts one’s physical remains into a sprouting tree. These egg-shaped pods (called Capsula Mundi) contain physical human remains, or in ash form, that provide nutrients for a new sapling planted above.

CNN recently reported on this latest approach, saying that the wood, synthetic cushioning and metals used in traditional coffins and the concrete around reinforced graves litter the earth.

Cemeteries continue to expand, so absorbing untold acres that with the burial pod approach could become green forests that feed on carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

I know, the Capsula Mundi approach sounds like something a commune of tree-huggers in tie-dyed T-shirts might promote. Yet if we consider the reality of what we do with our deceased and the swelling population today, creating a living, organic reminder of our loved ones whose physical remains are incorporated into a creating a magnificent tree can sound like a viable alternative.

Jennifer DeBruyen, an associate professor of biosystems engineering and soil science at the University of Tennessee, said of traditional burial methods using caskets and concrete vaults: “A lot of energy also goes into producing these materials, which are used for a very short time and then buried. They’re not going to break down very fast.”

The idea for Capsula Mundi originated in 2003, CNN reported, after Bretzel and Cetelli saw tons of discarded furniture at the end of Milan’s “Salone del Mobile” design fair.

“It was a big competition to design new things, but almost nobody cared about future impact or whether anyone would actually use these things,” Bretzel told the reporter. “We started thinking about projects that could have an environmental aspect. Death is part of our life but at design fairs nobody cares about that because it’s one side of our life that we don’t want to look at. We don’t like to think of death as part of life.”

The designers say their initial version of this “green burial” product will be for ashes only, with a subsequent model suitable for bodies to be encapsulated as they began, in the fetal position.

The chemistry involved is elemental. First, bacteria in the soil breaks down the biodegradable plastic shell until the ashes gradually come into contact with the soil, without dramatically altering its chemical balance. Cremation, though, requires abundant energy, and older dental fillings can release mercury into the environment, which is why some crematoriums now utilize mercury filters.

A Texas A&M soil scientist advocates using more mature trees in the Capsula Mundi approach because interred remains will purge within a year, which means its nutrients are released into the soil quite rapidly, so a decently sized young tree planted on top would be key to success. Capturing such nutrients also protects groundwater.

The cable news report says DeBruyen believes the burial pods would benefit the surrounding environment since traditional burials seal remains deep underground which means they are fully anaerobic and fail to degrade completely. “These pods may help maintain some oxygen flow into the system,” she is quoted saying. “The other thing they bring to the whole system is carbon [from the starchbased bioplastic]. One of the constraints and challenges with decomposing a human body is that it’s very nitrogen-rich. And so the microbes that are trying to break down all that nitrogen need some carbon to balance it out. I think there’s enough science and agreement that these [options] represent a really viable option for afterlife.”

Time is now

The public comment period remains open on the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s wise decision to deny C&H Hog Farms a Regulation 5 permit in its present location. I continue urging every Arkansan who cares about saving our now impaired national river to speak out until Oct. 17 on the department website at tinyurl.com/natriver, or send letters to Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, Attn: C&H Draft Denial, 5301 Northshore Drive, North Little Rock, 72118.