In Germany it´s a tradition to plant a tree for new born babies, now imagine planting your baby´s tree in the soil of your grandparents. The past generations would nourish the once just entering the world and look after them
It's the little suprises in life that can really show just how horrible of a person you are. I'm 26 minutes into this documentary, but still. When you said "plant your baby tree in the soil of your grandparents". My mind went to a completely different subject. If you'll excuse me, I need to go pray.
You're awesome Caitlin! The movement of free choice and being focused on normalizing the way "the end" is viewed and conceptualized is beautiful! Bless all of this community and yourself for all the progress forward (though it has such a long way to go, but honestly, something has to be done with the ever increasing human population, which at one point or another, will be an ever increasing corpse "population").
Hahaha that's so caitlin. I'm cracking up. Omg. I'm going down a rabbit hole in my head! New restaurant ( NOR ) presents salmon sponsered by the order of good death....food protected by the dead!
Gotta love the corporate greed of the big funeral industrial complex & their lobbying. #Sarcasm You only have to look at what that hack politician Dick Ham did to aquamation in Tennessee. All because his coffin business would have. Been threatened by its introduction as a death option. To see how they will use any & all avenues available. To them to protect their profit margins the environment be damed.
To be a little fair, composting, even regular back yard composting of kitchen scraps, isn't as "natural" as you think as far as how decomposition works. It's a technology. Actually our modern understanding of it is about the same age as chemical fertilizer. People have always tossed organic stuff on the ground to improve soil nutrition without really knowing why. But the idea that you can do a good mix of organics and control the air and moisture to speed it all up and control the decomposition process isn't strictly "natural." Natural burial is legal all over, but I do think this is better in many cases, and I'm excited for all the new legislation that's coming up.
This is the first burial varient that actually appeals to me. Before I was pretty "whatever" about what happens to my corpse, because I'll be dead and won't care. But the thought of just naturally become food for plants feels so pure and comforting. I'll have to look into if there is anything like this where I'm from
When I was looking for a house and checked one it was dark in the evening. I saw a beautiful mum in the garden, so I stared at the flowers. That was the moment when the seller told me briefly: The parents will be moved when we leave the property... then I could see the little rock with "in loving memory of" ...
My mom, who was an avid gardener, died last year, she chose cremation but I think had it been available she would have chosen composting, it would have been so perfect for her. I hope this becomes much more available soon!
This would be my choice for myself. I would love to try to get my state to permit this as an option because I think many many people would choose this option. I am not understanding why this would meet any opposition either as it is beneficial to all involved and for the environment. I am also not understanding why the Catholic church opposed this also. I am Catholic and feel this would be closest to caring for God's creations. Makes zero sense why this would not be an option for anyone.
@@MissaPality dont Catholics have to pay the church for a funeral service? It’s all a scam lol idk I’m Native American and Unitarian Universalist so i don’t know.
@@lazyhomebody1356 Same here, bog kept the man intact for us to find him when he would have probably completely decomposed in ANY other situation other than tundra ice.
Samesies as the other commenters! Except there wasnt just one person ever found in a bog!! Windover in Florida was a bog that dried up before dozens of preserved bodies were found dating back THOUSANDS of years!
First I was not happy about the idea of being composted, but her showing the ritual was so beautiful and calming and tbh I'd absolutely LOVE to chill in a pile of wood chips inside a capsules to then have my compost spread in a forest. That would be my ideal way to go. Now that I've thought more about it, if my grandpa had died at a time where this would've been possible I would have made a garden with his compost and planted nothing but his favourite flowers in it. He was a very passionate gardener and would probably have loved the idea of this kind of burial.
What a more beautiful way to almost continue living on if you are a Gardner. My grandma also loved to garden. She use to have a huge garden every year even when she moved to the city. If this was around when she passed I know she would have loved to be in her garden feeding her peach tree she absolutely loved.
This is what I've wanted my entire life understanding what death meant for my body. Seeing a loved one pumped full of preserving chemicals and made up at a viewing made me ill; it didn't look like her, it looked like a doll. I knew I wanted my body untouched and naturally decomposed. When this option of fast decomposition that would allow me to be a part of my garden showed up, I was ecstatic.
I live in Seattle and this is where our mom was laid to rest. I'll be here when it's my trurn. They were wonderful people that made it easy to do.They even picked up our mom's body and helped with all the paperwork, at an affordable price. Thank you Caitlin, for briging this information to the people.
If you don't mind sharing. Do you remember how much you paid for the composting? I'm planning for when it's my time and when it's legal in my state(if I'm still in the US when I do)
I agree heavily. I want to return to the Earth. Once I'm gone I should be gone ya know? Preserving my dead body once I'm not in it anymore feels wrong. Also from TN :)
I saw the Burial Service for the 1rst time as of just now. I am 💯 % in agreement with being a choice. We came from the earth for life , so we shall become the earth in death. This is Superb technology at its best. I'm in.
It feels wrong to leave a like on such a comment but I am glad that you have access to this channel, information, and the death positive support here at this time. I hope you are supported also beyond here and have what you need to remove extra stressors as they come.
I’m in California. I always thought it was illegal to bury my pets but I did it anyways. Then last year the vet gave me the option to bring home my fur baby and bury him in my yard. Not only did it save me money I’ll always have his place marked in the yard he loved so much. ❤❤❤
We have farmed for generations. Deceased livestock has always been composted as far back as I can remember. It's a good method and actually, in the case of animals to whom I have had a close personal attachment, the nice little tree protected spot that we use makes me feel they are resting peacefully in a beautiful place. I did right by them.
@@Lunishta There was a slaughterhouse on the outskirts of the town I lived in. One day Mike, our hound/spaniel mix went out there and came home with a cow leg bigger than he was. He must have dragged that thing five miles. It was nothing but bone, hoof and cartilage. Mike was so proud of his accomplishment, but my grandmother and sisters were horrified.
@@photoboyjet I always thought it was interesting when Sirius my border collie/golden retriever came home with a cows leg because there aren't any cattle farms in his known stomping grounds (our property and the neighbours field to chase coyotes), he must've gone up the road to find them.
"music the person loved" Ah. For my grandmother that was children singing Bible songs... badly. My aunt found a mixtape that Grandma had made. I struggled not to laugh at the funeral.
One of my work friends had a similar story which made me chuckle. Her dad was a primary school teacher. The school children had recorded a song played on their recorders for him and my friends mum had asked the crematorium to play it as the coffin was brought in but they didn't, the played a hymn instead. After the funeral, my friends mum called the crematorium to complain they had played a hymn they didn't want. The crematorium responded, "you think that's bad? The funeral after your husbands came in to Little Donkey played on recorders!" 😂😂
For a science fiction story where this practice is prominent read Becky Chambers "Records Of A Space Born Few". It is the third book in a series of four, but can be read as a stand alone novel.
So, I recently moved to Germany and I'm in a German language course. I watched this video yesterday, and today in class we came to the topic of Compostable clothing. And my teacher asked, "What else can be composted?" and without thinking, I said, "Humans!" I now have to give a presentation on this topic tomorrow.
This video convinced me. And my mom. The laying in ceremony looks so wholesome and pragmatic. Lay me down in a bed of flowers, let me grow into a forest.
I love that part "If you're still alive, you can just knock." This is for those of us that want every possible chance, even once the odds no longer exist. See, I know that when I'm dead, I'm dead. My body stops working, my brain stops working, the electricity that was me stops existing. Hopefully my soul moves on. I get that. But here's the thing. There's this odd sort of comfort knowing that I'm not being forced into a postion, ever. I'm being given a nice, soft, air filled space that isn't holdming me in place at all. If my body can get up, it's free to do that. If not, then I decompose under lack of my own power. This is what I NEED done with my body. Thank you so much for letting me know it's even a thing.
this is EXACTLY how i’ve always felt, i’m extremely grateful to Caitlin for sharing this info with us bc i have never been able to figure out what to put down as my preferred funeral method. this is probably what i’ll be going with if i can
@@luckystar9279 you would actually be savagely torn apart by aerobic bacteria going through the nitrogen cycle. Insects can’t break down something alone as big as human body in only 30 days unless you had thousands and thousands of em
This was just 🤌 chefs kiss. "We should all be cartwheeling through the compost" ABSOLUTELY!! And that man was such a joy i caught myself grabbing my chest with a soft aww and wiping a tear away the entire time. Such a delight this entire video was. How beautiful 🤧❤❤❤
Not to sound like a total hippie, but imagine if we held every piece of dirt and soil as sacred as if it was once someone we loved and composted. Because everything natural was once something or someone else. And there’s something wild and beautiful about that.
I've been listening to this book, Braiding Sweetgrass, that discusses the ideas of plants being non-human peoples and soil being a sacred, living being. The author, Robin Wall Kimmerer is a botanist and Native American, and it's really opened my eyes to how spiritual interactions with nature can be
Not a hippie either, and I'd love to know that people understand that we're not special as humans - we're just a lifeform around here, and we won't take anything with us. Not an expensive coffin nor a silken burial gown. Being respected and cherished as earth would make us even more special than a spot where a tombstone or tree gets to stand - not to speak of the pro's in comparison to the traditional methods.
I'm beginning to practise paganism, and through an appreciation of nature it is so easy to feel that everything organic has life flowing through it, from the grass and soil, the trees and stones, and everything is this beautiful balanced cycle with every little thing having a knock on importance in the ecosystem.
I'm wondering if that's how people got the idea of a ghost being a spirit under a white sheet/shroud... Being that people buried their dead that way for so long.
Just the thought of participating in the "laying in ceremony" for someone that I love was enough to get me tearing up. The real thing would be an EXTREMELY emotional experience for me, but I think it would probably be a healthy kind of emotional. Overall, I think this whole process is just the most beautiful thing.
I planted my late bearded dragon in a planter urn. A week later I saw a small mulberry tree pop up, they were her favorite snack, and watching all the plants grow really helped me with her passing. She's making beautiful things and snaccs for the little bugs she would have eaten. It's beautiful.
@@williamnordeste1169 Composting is a bit different from just burying a body and letting it decay naturally in the soil. Composting is the process of turning dead organic matter (such as wood, hay, food scraps etc.) INTO soil in an aerobic (oxygen-filled) environment. The outcome is very similar, though.
She sold me when she said, “I don’t know how many of you are worried about being buried alive…” . I’m not scared of dying, but I am 100% scared of being buried alive!
I used to be terrified of cremation, and burial. I didn't want to be put in the ground with the worms, but I was also terrified of the idea of being cremated because what if I was still alive. Which I know is silly, there no way that would happen but it still scared me. After learning about ancient cultures and thier funeral rights, I've become much more comfortable with the idea of cremation because there's a spiritual aspect to it. Of course I still don't really want to be cremated in a crematorium, id rather have an open air pyre cremation, but unfortunately its not legal in my country. This human composting and remembrance garden concept is definitely an excellent alternative though, and if I cant have my open air cremation I'd love to have a natural burial in a beautiful garden.
I've NEVER understood how folks see filling a deceased body with chemicals, placing it in a steel box and then into a concrete box (as is often required) as NATURAL?? When I learned that soil transitioning was legal in WA and that there are at least 3 companies here that provide that service, I was overjoyed! The thought of returning myself, naturally, to the earth and having trees planted in my soil is so very comforting. I really can't imagine that this won't become the default at some point. Where are we going to BURY 8 billion people? Hello. Thanks, Cailtin for another great video!
Yes thats true but any cemetery after a time reuses graves and personally I dont see it as a cemetery vs nature argument. Its more Walmart vs cemetery situation. Walmart and other development isn't real keen on redevelopment if virgin land is available. You cant stop landowners from selling land. What you can do is put your corpse there for a while. That doesn't solve the problem permanently but it does set aside land for park space instead of parking spaces.
I wonder if the ppl that are massively against it doesn't get the fact that this is supposed to be an OPTION. They themselves don't have to choose this, but for the rest of us it would be great to have this alternative for those of us who CHOOSE it.
Thank you for sharing this information. I’ve been researching options other than cremation and burial, and THIS is def at the top of my list!! Now for making it a reality….sigh.
@@666nAck I make my life count every single day!! And I don’t want to put the burden on my loved ones of making the decision of how to dispose of my corpse…having a plan is part of being a responsible human.
I really loved to see how Katrina was inspired to tackle this issue while pursuing architecture. You really never know what direction life will take you and where your calling may find you. Really inspirational!
Agreed! The intersection between these two disciplines reminds me a lot of what happened with the Cimetière des Innocents in the 18th century (back when the burial pits became a public health risk and major public works were needed to relocate remains.) We don't often think of burial as a city planning issue but it totally makes sense when you consider population growth.
@John 3:16 Believe on Jesus Christ and Be Saved - Your comment is myopic, lacks substance, intelligence and foresight! 👎🏼 God has no specific religion, religion is man made and you are a follower of fables. Just pointing out the obvious !
Being composted sounds a lot more appealing than becoming gross bio-soup in a sealed casket buried in a forever-dedicated plot of earth. Great video. Good stuff to know.
Where do you think the matter of that body in a casket is going to be in 500 million years or more? We tend to think of things on a pathetically short human timescale. Even the Earth itself Will one day be reduced to dust and recycled in a few billion years, back into the universe, it doesn't matter where your body sits. Nothing in the universe goes to waste, other than some humans that may waste their lives while borrowing said matter.
the body is going to do the same thing in the casket, the only thing that survives longer is your skeleton. But even that will break down soon after awhile.
I agree. The gross things done for embalming and being cremated with fuel poisoning the air. Luke Perry celebrity was buried in a mushroom suit and that’s amazing. Green burials are the best
This so reflects the Buddhist teaching that “form is emptiness and emptiness is form”. Our form transforms back to the constituents it was made of, and it then nourishes other forms. I’ve already made arrangements for a green burial in a conservation area which I’m totally jazzed about.
Here in Isan inThailand we just put you on 2 sacks of charcoal,pour cooking oil over you,light you and roll you into the oven at the wat (temple) or you can be put on a pile of wood (with fresh banana palms placed over you to stop you sitting up in the fire and freaking out the kids), come back the next day to pick up what's left in a coffee jar (Chiang Mai just sweep you into the piles with everyone else's burned bone fragments) but this sounds great because you could end up back in the family farm that feeds the family.
I found it really endearing how the guy you interviewed would say "thank you" to express gratitude about you engaging in a topic he is so passionate about in a thoughtful and insightful manner. This video overall was a joy to watch and I sincerely hope human composting takes off throughout the world.
As a Californian and an avid gardener, I'm disappointed. I wrote a letter of support because I want this option for myself when my time comes! Thank you for all of your work on this frontier.
I understand the dems thought on the bill. When your opponents come at you with everything they've got and even people that support you generally are less then happy, all the work you do is questioned. I really think some Republicans are against animal protection, efficiency standards, carbon credits etc because the Dems are for it. Successful and effective politicians ruin the narrative that the other party wants to destroy everything that is good. Dems try to torpedo republican bills too, but going after military spending and laissez faire policy is not much of a rallying point. "They are trying to take away our cemeteries " is much easier to scream into a megaphone.
@@jamiep9694 Not all of California is rich or the small rich areas you see on TV. We could definitely use this here because of how many dry areas there are & if I would've known about this sooner I definitely would've written in. What a beautiful way to spend eternity.
@@nise5281 If your Google auto-corrected like mine did, it likely got "polluted" with "populated." To which, actually...yes to both. A lot of the states with high populations also have high pollution (poor air quality was one study I found). Rather surprising and humbling.
No one is going to bring it to Michigan, but with a state house controlled by Democrats and a Democratic governor, it might be a lot easier to find support for the needed legislation to pass. Citizens need to organize and find members of the legislature to introduce such a bill and get it through the process.
This feels so much more comforting than being scorched into dust or placed in a tiny box 6 ft in the cold ground. I can live again as the actual earth. It also in a way feels more respectful.
I totally agree. The ideas of being cremated or in a casket fill me with a kind of dread, and I know I won't know the difference at that point, but still. The idea of being composted is uplifting.
Hi, I'm a Christian (wait don't hang-up). I LOVE this idea. Now, I'm not a Catholic but I can't imagine why other Christians wouldn't be completely down for this once they understand how it works. As a little girl when I heard the "dust to dust" verse I always imagined nourishing the trees. The Bible also says that we are to care for the earth so I think that Jesus would be totally on board!
“Yes, Simba, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connnected in the great Circle of Life” Mufasa…
Everyone is different on what they want after death. I would rather be composted and to give back to the earth than have chemicals put into my body or be cremated. Hopefully PA would make this legal. You have your own way on what you want to be done to you when pass away. But having more options is great
@@mkgbeauty1016 You'll be composted just lije a piece of garbage left out in a field under some leaves and branches. Isn't a human being befitting of something better....
This is so beautiful. As a historian I find it comforting that this is the same method that humans have been using for thousands of years, just with a modern twist to make it more sustainable.
Where do you get your information from used as history ASO with composting you must go to some liberal brainwashing college or schooling being taught by some crazy ass insane teacher give me a break, 😏
“Your not a tree, your a forest” I got goosebumps and started to well up.. and I agree, the least I can do when I’m gone is to give my physical body back to nature .. beautiful concept and I hope this gets more traction
This is the ultimate “my body my choice” I cannot understand why there’s so few states, I was considering cremation, then I saw the option of being plainly buried and a tree planted. This would be a fantastic option, I think my family would probably think it’s weird, but in the same thought they would say, “well, it is Tommy, so…”. Those roses are so beautiful, oh thanks, it’s all because of Tommy, he must have a green thumb, no his decomposed body is feeding them……crickets…
Money, morality, and traditon, those are the roots. As a student in the industry, that is the answer to this particular question. - The politicians often set in their ways fear that these new methods may scare people from the methods that net the government an income. Plus they like to be in control too so there is that. - The funeral homes see these startups as competition, and being the funeral industry has an almost exclusive control over what happens when you die, there is a bit of sway that the role carries. - The public sees this as different, a break from tradition and what they were brought up to see as moral and ethical. "Farmers compost dead livestock, what now are we just cows?" (not saying that's the exact argument but you get the gist). This means their less inclined to look at these options unless someone they know has undergone these processes. - The public also may have an underlying fear as to what could be transferred into the soil, fearing public safety and such. - Having these facilities in a community may ruing the value of property thus it may not be favorable to municipalities and developers. Ther is a whole load more that can factor in, this is a very short sentence of what is arguably a novel the size of J.R.R Tolken's "Silmarillion".
Side note: I absolutely love that the scientist said the soil was "Nothing special "! We are all organic matter and we go back to that. It's full circle in its best form!
Nothing special today but back in the day the bodies of war were sacred in fertilizing the crops for their people back home . They also used their teeth.
Omg. Picking up a truckload of whomever sounds crazy. Lol But, that could let gma take care of her garden indefinitely. I love it. We need this to pass everywhere. Amazing way to help the earth's soil and in that, helping possibly feed our future. Thank you Caitlin. ❤
That is such a beautiful thought. I already love and revere compost as the most wonderful and amazing thing, it would be so exciting to know I was going to be composted. I think it would make dying a lot more peaceful if I could guarantee that. Plants and fungi and compost and gardening forever!
I knew I wanted to be composted and be a tree. So when "your not a tree, you are a forest" was like nailing it. I love your videos. Thanks for sharing such content.
I hope I get to be composted. there's something comforting about being turned into life-giving soil for more life to spring. almost as if I'm never truly dead, just passing on my life to other life.
Fantastic idea, would prefer visiting a "Garden of remembrance" filled with flowers and plants supported with nutrient rich compost than some grim cemetery. Adding this to my death plan now.
Some grim cemetery where it's socially frowned upon to even walk on the graves. I know this is going to sound wrong, but *please step on me*. All ground should be used!
I love this. To be handled by people who are so compassionate and caring for the environment is amazing! Giving back our bodies to mother nature from which we came is such a comforting thought.
If i lost when hiking, please, don't search for me or my corpse, dont ship me into this facility, there will be a lot of carbon footprint by doing so, especially if you use 4wheel to retrive me up.
I find it weird. Its just compost at that point. It stopped being a person the moment they died. Way before the composting took place. Can't understand why anyone would think otherwise its just too strange a concept to me.
Even though like, on a physical level, a person stops being _them_ once they're dead, they're still that person to their loved ones. That remains true even after they don't even look human anymore. So saying they've "welcomed people", even though they've technically just received some compost, is an acknowledgement of that human sentiment.
The thought of my preserved body laying underground waiting while everyone who ever knew me eventually forgets or passes on leaving me alone in a cemetery makes me feel incredibly lonely. I'm not against a memorial but I have always just wanted to decay so i can still serve a purpose.
Well you’d have no brain neurology so you wouldn’t be thinking anything. You’d just have the blackest of blackest and a silence no living person can imagine,scary but true! Peace and happiness from Dublin
I mean, I understand the sentiment, but it's a very human thing to feel. Once you're dead, you won't have any activity happening in the brain-- that's what makes you dead, so you're not going to _feel_ or _experience_ anything when you're dead.
As a catholic we talk about ‘from dust to dust’ meaning actually ‘from soil to soil’ as it’s taken from the creation of man from mud + god’s breath - and life ending with decomposition. Because of this I always found the concept of chemical preservation post death very strange, it took away from the beauty of the sentiment of our bodies being an earthly vessel that would return to its state once the spirit has gone. I wanted a natural burial before I had heard of the term, or the fact that it’s an option. Doctrine teaches us to give all we have in love, and I’d like to give the last thing I can give - my body - to nature. I’m saddened to hear that people sharing my faith have caused issues with the law, although sadly not surprised, and I hope more people start to see it as I do.
I am also Catholic & feel mostly as you have written. I wondered about how The Catholic Church (TCC) views this method for the first 14 minutes of the video until she mentioned that. There was a time when TCC did not allow us to be cremated, but that has changed & I expect TCC will eventually allow us to utilize this method. I don't think it is so much a matter of TCC creating issues, as the fact that respect for life & respect for the body which God created in His own image perhaps require some further consideration before the stance on this would change. For instance, I could see where TCC would not have a problem with our being allowed to decay naturally (as would happen if we were to pass away in the woods somewhere, unbeknownst to others), but would have concerns about the respectful disposition of our remains AFTER the natural decay of our bodies occurs. I'm just guessing, but I think they might take issue with our remains being tossed in a heap "just anywhere" rather than hallowed ground. Maybe Catholics will eventually end up feeding beautiful forests at some of our National Shrines. What a lovely thought! 10.22.2021
Also its incredibly rude to try to dictate what people not in your religion do. Telling everyone in your congregation that composting will mean you come back as a dirt being post resurrection (that sounds cool though) and that they're not allowed to do that. Okay whatever. Trying to stop other people from having that option, even if it went against their religion they shouldn't.
This takes a lot of depression out of the deposing of human remains. Must find out if this is available in the UK. Make trees, make forests! That's so appealing
One main thing that terrifies me is the thought of dying and death. I dont like the idea of getting sent to a morgue and be embalmed with a lethal chemical. The thought of being possibly still alive when declared dared when I'm still alive. This is the way of composting gives me comfort. I actually have wanted to be planted with a beautiful Japanese cherry blossom tree with a plague on a gorgeous headstone with my picture and the person that i was in life bringing joy to others and always helped others. To helping nature recycle me in such a dignied and most richest manner versus being placed in a coffin taking up space and it would take years for me to be in decomposition or become mummfied. The terror of being stuck in a coffee 6 feet under is so inhumane and would prefer to be returned to earth in the most natural way and continue to grow with my favorite tree and we become one with nature forever. Imagine with a beautiful flower garden and a pretty pond of water with goldfish, swans and ducks swimming along with each other with benches so comfortable to relax in a beautiful sunrise or sunset and little quaint tables to place snacks and drinks and a foot rest to rest on. A nice playground for children to play and just remember me on those beautiful picturesque days with me. Remember me always for who i was that lived a good humble life caring for others. Remember me.❤😮
If that’s your fear like this lady on the video told us if you choose this kind service if you happen to be alive and wake up just knock on the vessel door they’ll gladly let you out.
I see so many people wanting to have their ashes in tree pods- where their ashes aren’t really doing much to nourish that tree- this is such a more direct and intimate way to become part of nature
I just had that very conversation with someone on FB. So, of course, I posted one of Caitlin's old videos on burial options. Then this one showed up in my RU-vid feed, so I posted that one, too. Very appropriate to today's discourse!
You can get ur whole body put in a pod that biodegrades and a tree is planted above it but I'm not sure which countries it is legal in yet but it sound very similar to a natural burial just with a pod,
The funeral industry is going to fight this tooth and nail because this will cut into their bottom line. The casket, embalming, dressing of the body, wake, and cemetery plot/mausoleum is a boon for them. If this option becomes mainstream as cremation has (the average cremation is $6k), the cost is going to skyrocket. Right now composting is $2,500 to $5,500 depending on site and process.
Honestly I can see them going down a different route to extort money out of grieving family members if this becomes mainstream, like charging shitloads for ultra-fancy memorial pots with the dead person's face on them to put the compost in
@The Funeral Apprentice But at the end of the day, money is money. I would have never thought a cremation would get as expensive as it has, but it has. The same will probably happen with composting.
@@lazyperfectionist3978 If that's what the person wants done, then let them. The natural composition and it's intended purpose will be sought by the right people who demand alternatives to the high price of the funeral industry. But I can see where a funeral corporation would monopolize the business, and prevent a competitor from opening shop with the green alternatives....
Has the cost of cremation gone up? Not quite 4 years ago, I paid $785 for my husband's cremation. And that included several copies of his death certificate, for closing accounts. etc.
@@sophierobinson2738 yes, cremations have gone up. The average cremation now is 5-6 thousand dollars. But the funeral home talks the family into having a viewing or wake before the body is cremated so that adds on to the cost.
“One of the times, a woman leapt out of the car, screaming her loved one’s name, joyously leaping over… to touch the pile [of soil].” I was not ready for that image. I had to leave the breakfast table. 🥺. Absolutely beautiful.
Man, I hate that the game of politics always puts priority on the game part rather than what the community clearly wants. You guys got this next year! Also very glad to see this is legal here in Oregon! I didn’t know that Edit: I'm a dumb and said "game of political" so I fixed it
@@onemansvoice9132 at least Republicans support capitalism while dems try to ACT like they hate it while getting wealthy using the very same system they condem! Just sayin 🤷
@@Balin_James not a joke, just pointing out facts. Yes both sides have rich people but dems want to dismantle capitalism even though they clearly benefit from it, while Republicans support capitalism.
At LEAST modern cemeteries are starting to look more like public parks than actual cemeteries but, I completely agree with you Heather. Here in Canada we have NO SHORTAGE of land space but, what a waste of money. Granted, our newer cemeteries are parklike ... with ponds, trees, flowerbeds etc ... so people can actually use them as they would a park. That being said, I STILL agree 100% with your comment.
Aussie and agree also. Though... new options are becoming more accessible here where you can be given a natural burial on private land, usually adjoining a national park or similar, which is being 're-forested' ( humans planting trees etc to re-establish the natural ecology). Having people IN the ground in these areas, where you can plant a local ecology-appropriate, memorial tree or shrub above the burial, means that the forest can NEVER be logged or cleared. It had the extra protection of being a cemetery as well! Hopefully forever!
I'm a Catholic, and I LOVE this idea, (it makes me mad that some of us are so uptight about the wrong things) My cousin loved nature, and would have probably been a full blown hippy type given different chances in life, and I can't help thinking this, especially something like the river rewilding project, would have been perfect for him than being stuck in a box. This video has explained it better than anything I've read, you even answered my worry about what happened to the bones, which I couldn't find anywhere. Though I'd feel happier if you could collect them already bagged up (oof, that sounded horrible 😳), and I just don't think I could plant anything edible in people compost. The first I heard about it was when my father heard about it being legalised (somewhere, I know I could google it) recently, and mum asked me to look it up because she thought he'd imagined it 😆 While initially freaked out by the thought of it (I imagined people being treated disrespectfully, being flung on something like a communal compost heap, or the places forensics study decomp rates) I had to read up about it, and thought it was lovely!
Caitlin thank you for sharing this information, it is extremely informative, I own a funeral home in Western Colorado and am currently working towards operating a human composting facility, I love the concept.
it is more respectful for the departed to be brought back as a nutrient for living matters ..than be embalmed in chemicals ..more sacred ..as it written ..from the dust you came ..to dust you return
I keep coming back to watch this video because it’s just such an incredible beautiful idea. Genuinely I’d be honored to give my dead body back to nature like this.
Unfortunately, we’re becoming full of micro-plastics and other chemicals, at some point humans decaying in the ground will have the opposite effect. It’ll be like radioactive materials.
Have my kids take home a chunk of soil with me in it. Grow a tree. Then they have to rake the leaves every year as pay back for making me clean house after them? SIGN ME UP!
The fact that there's a "moral debate" about it is so stupid. Like what do you think burial does exactly? It's just a lengthened version of composting.
I wouldn't call it sped up or lengthened... it happens at the rate nature intended. While they provide the ideal conditions for complete composting, and help break down any leftover bone bits, the organic process natural. The problem is that most current burial processes add embalming chemicals, then place the body inside a coffin, which is sealed inside a concrete vault. The process blocks nature from being able to break down the body until something happens to destroy the vault. It's sad to think of all those bodies locked away from becoming part of nature again.
I am sick of our country dictating policy by a few. I am so impressed by your process, seriously considering this instead of cremation. Why should this be a decision made by bureaucrats who only want to be re-elected. Thanks for this fascinating option.
As a native of California, it’s tiring to be a national laughingstock, even when it’s unjustified. I grew up learning that we were the armpit of America.
@@SamAronow : I'm a horrible New Yorker who's an unhealthy blend of hopefulness and cynicism, but I'm sorry you feel that way. Looking back at my visits, I feel like I've been too negative to ever really fit in on the West Coast. Most of you belong to bastions of forward thinking, even if you have the normal human tendency to under-appreciate your hometowns.
Agreed.. as another (southern) Californian, there was a time that this would be welcomed with open arms. Even the green/shroud in the ground burials. I only know a handful of cemeteries here that allow that, Joshua tree being one ( which was meantioned in one of Caitlin's books). I am facinated with shroud burial, composting and aquamation, but many places won't try new death alternatives.. I mean look at Riverside national cemetery, they don't allow anything but the cement crypt casket thing other then columbariums.. cause it makes the grass easier to mow.
yeah same here! going to my grandpas funeral completely turned me off to traditional embalming and burial. i absolutely wanna be composted, especially since it agrees with my spiritual beliefs somewhat (returning to the earth, etc)
@@raerohan4241 what is demeaning about calling it a Mcburial , when this is how I feel about the many I’ve been too, if you don’t like it or it hurts your feelings then that’s a you problem not me, I will keep calling them Mcburial’s thank you and goodbye
As a Californian, it makes me sad to think that we were so close, and yet failed. I've been telling my children since they were small that I wanted to be "scattered under a tree". This option would make me not only a tree, but a forest!
Right! We could have had psychedelics to expand the mind and consciousness and sacred forests of human composting where we could probably go to them and be completely present! I started tearing up when they talked about the little girl dancing because that level of recognition of the cycles of life and consciousness so young was so profound
I can't wait to return to the Earth when I'm no longer using my body. Shameful that we forget, we are nothing more than borrowed carbon. Absolutely loved this video, and adore you all for your passion and this hard work you're doing
The reaction of Caitlyn and others to the land overlaid with human compost reminds me of how indigenous people react to the spaces their people have occupied - and have had their bodies return to over centuries. Is this our modern equivalent, along with Green Burials? Will we in coming years begin to re-establish that bond with the land that post-industrial societies basically have lost? When you know that everything living in an ecosystem contains part of your ancestors, how does that change your relationship with it?
I had no idea this was happening right here in the PNW, but I love the idea. Previously I had thought about donating my remains to the body farm. Thank you for doing this work.
This is the first option I have ever felt totally comfortable with. I love the forest, to me the forest is the most peaceful place in the world. The smell and the sounds are so comforting. What a beautiful idea!
Natural burial has always appealed the most to me out of everything. Let me go back to the land as nature intended. Thank you for showing us this process. It is beautiful and I desperately hope that this can be a normalized option for "burial."
