Ultimate recycling

I read about this some months ago ...Our Model | Recompose
Legal now in 5 American states, it's not an option currently available in UK or Europe (apart from a reference to Belgium) which seems strange, given the emphasis on reducing CO2 emissions etc.
Given that most French don't even have the option of a cardboard coffin if choosing cremation, however ecological their convictions while alive, we seem to be a long way off finding or implementing alternatives to traditional burial and cremation.
There are two major stumbling blocks here. Firstly the huge, profitable business that is the funeral industry, and then the attitude of the Catholic church. Maybe the second one will have less and less relevance as older generations fizzle out . It's sad to have to admit that business is the main factor.
What do members think? Should we have the option to become useful humus?

 

I think you should have the option, yes.

Will it solve the problem of withdrawal of peat based compost though?
Will there be enough to go round?

 

I have always said to my wife, "Just stick me on the compost heap.". It makes a lot of sense.

 

I agreed @Jocko, but after seeing what a badger did to my compost heaps last year, I think I'd prefer a controlled environment

 

If what you UK dwellers say is correct, there's plenty of raw material! The end result can't be worse than the chopped wood waste and 'green' rubbish that passes for compost over here. But seriously, as practised in the USA, I think the resulting compost is either returned to the family or spread in a dedicated forest.

 

I think that might cause a problem with the neighbors

But I have no problem with the idea, another way would be maggot farms, the maggots then dried and used as animal feed.

I knew someone who always said he wanted to be used as a way of growing mushrooms.

 

Apart from the wealthy who had lead lined coffins and a semaphore flag which they could raise just incase they weren't properly dead.

 

Traditional burial involves chemicals, use of wood (and lots of make-up from what I've seen here ) and takes up a lot of space and time, though. The 'turnover' in these new facilities is very quick, although probably just as, or more expensive than, traditional methods. A choice would be good....

 

Is that right? I used to insist that if (when) I was buried, I wanted a few power tools, spare batteries and a couple of screwdrivers in there with me

 

What happened to vertical burial.
Just bore a hole and put the coffin in vertically, takes up a lot less space.

 

Mmmm..it's no better ecologically, though. I've got a mental block about coffins. What is the point? Beautiful wood, a lavish interior, fancy handles and trimmings etc. Whose benefit is it all for? Like the flowers at a funeral, it's all a bit late for giving pleasure to the deceased So...it's for the benefit of the mourners and mostly for the funeral directors. I can't remember ever having attended a funeral and feeling comforted by the flower display or the box.
On the other hand, I could really use a couple of wheelbarrows-full of good compost!

 

Yeah I get your point, it is more about those left behind rather than the dead.
I think you bog standard coffin costing hundreds is veneered MDF.

I did hear they need to degrade quickly these days.

 

So Ikea are branching out? Even if the coffin crumbles quickly, bones don't! Anything that speeds up the gooey, smelly bit is fine by me....
We haven't even started on the subject of Towers of Silence yet! Very practical in the French countryside. Lots of buzzards, crows and owls around Probably not the end of choice for those with vertigo, though

 

We need pictures