Somehow options for dealing with ones mortal remains after the soul has left have always seemed rather unappealing to me. While burial in a quiet country graveyard is the traditional English way and appeals most to my sensibilities of what is right and proper, the idea of my body slowly rotting in a wood box for decades just seems rather grotesque. The idea that centuries from now my skeleton could be dug up and put in some museum, or my idyllic final resting place back-hoed for a freeway or office block is even more displeasing. Cremation of my remains with gallons of fuel oil in what amounts to a human sized pizza oven also make me squirm, and having participated in the dumping of my grandmother's ashes over her garden it wasn't exactly the satisfying ritual for mourners I'd expected.
While some off-beat alternatives are out there - like Tibetan sky-burial, burial at sea, plasticizing, launching into space, cryostasis, etc. etc. none has really hit the mark so far. Until today that is, when I read about "Eco-burial" by Promessa Organic AB.
Basically the Promessa process involves freezing your remains to a solid in liquid nitrogen, vibrating it to a rough powder, then freeze-drying to create a stable and odourless fine powder that can be used as compost. Just bury the fifty pounds or so of powder in the ground, plant a tree over it and in six months you'll be absorbed into the soil, tree and environment.
My only issue is that the whole freeze-drying process must surely be quite energy intensive and as such would represent a final affront on the energy resources of the earth that I'd rather do without. If the process was done with 100% renewable energy then even that wouldn't be a problem for me. If you think I'm nuts for contemplating such a scheme for disposing of my remains, remember that the only tattoo I have ever coveted is a recycling logo...
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