Whats your gut reaction frozen corpses into compost

[Retired]

At its most basic explanation, it involves recycling human bodies as fertilizer, a process based on preserving the body in a biological form after death and returning it to the soil.

 

http://www.thelocal.se/33178/20110413/Swedish green-burial firm to turn frozen corpses in compost

 

I heard this on a radio show today and just gut reaction gross.

 

So I goggled when I got home and found this article. It still has a eek factor but it is not as bad as some of the pictures I got in my head

 

So what do you think gross or more like scattering ashes after a cremation

 

Would you want it done?

[Julie Smith]

To boring. When I'm dead I want to be a super hero.

:)

 

http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393050939

 

[GWOB]

From a Christian perspective-

 

As long as I didn't have to interact with the corpses or otherwise think about it, I'm cool with it "Dust you are and to dust you shall return." I suppose that could be interpreted as compost. I mean, it could be considered good stewardship of God's resources. Just don't tell me my compost came from some dead body and I'm good.

 

As far as proper disposal of bodies for a later resurrection. Well, we're talking about God here. He can find all the pieces of a body and create a new, resurrection body. I mean, he's God! He can do anything, right? Can I just pretend I never read about this?

[Britomart]

I think it's disrespectful. Yes, our bodies will eventually disintegrate and become dust. But they are the bodies of people. While we are alive, we aren't separate from our bodies; they are part of our selves. Also, as a Christian, I believe in the resurrection of the dead in bodily form; humans are bodied beings, now and in the resurrection.

 

No, a corpse isn't a person. But it is part of what was a person, and I think treating corpses respectfully is part of what makes a civilization civilized.

 

It's not a waste to treat a corpse with respect. There are other things that can be directly made into fertilizer. Let the dead rest in peace.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I know that it's totally different but I keep thinking "Soylent Green is People!" (Charlton Heston movie).

[missmoe]

I think it's fine. I personally want to be buried in a plain pine box in the forest behind my parents' house without being preserved in anyway. I worked hard my whole life keeping chemicals out of my body--why pump it full of chemicals after I die.

 

Perhaps now I can instead ask my kids to sprinkle me into their flower beds! ;)

[Liz CA]

Yes, this! No problem with dust to dust but it would be nice to keep it in a respectful manner.

[AvasMom]

My first thought was BIOHAZARD.

[AvasMom]

I think it's disrespectful. Yes, our bodies will eventually disintegrate and become dust. But they are the bodies of people. While we are alive, we aren't separate from our bodies; they are part of our selves. Also, as a Christian, I believe in the resurrection of the dead in bodily form; humans are bodied beings, now and in the resurrection.

 

No, a corpse isn't a person. But it is part of what was a person, and I think treating corpses respectfully is part of what makes a civilization civilized.

 

It's not a waste to treat a corpse with respect. There are other things that can be directly made into fertilizer. Let the dead rest in peace.

 

What happens then to cremated people?

[Caitilin]

I think it's fine. I personally want to be buried in a plain pine box in the forest behind my parents' house without being preserved in anyway. I worked hard my whole life keeping chemicals out of my body--why pump it full of chemicals after I die.

 

Perhaps now I can instead ask my kids to sprinkle me into their flower beds! ;)

 

:iagree: this is how I would view this as well. :D

[Impish]

I know that it's totally different but I keep thinking "Soylent Green is People!" (Charlton Heston movie).

:iagree::lol:

I've already told Wolf, I'm turning him into a nice diamond or 3. :D

[Britomart]

What happens then to cremated people?

 

I assume whatever happens to buried people. :) Sorry, I didn't mean to be unclear: I don't think that burial/cremation practices affect your eternal state. God is powerful enough to make bodies out of dust, ashes, whatever. I just meant to say that since we have bodies now, and will have bodies then, and that those bodies are part of what makes us human, that we ought to, whenever possible, treat those bodies with respect. Even after the soul has departed.

[kolamum]

Not having read the article first, my gut reaction is: Eww! Stinky! But then again, what about when spread ashes..

 

Needless to say being inside my head can be freaky. ;)

[NanceXToo]

Sounds fine to me! (I wanted to be cremated but I guess composted is okay too lol).

[Wheres Toto]

I know that it's totally different but I keep thinking "Soylent Green is People!" (Charlton Heston movie).

 

That's the first thing I thought too. :lol:

[Night Elf]

I think it sounds like a wonderful idea. I think it's respectful to both the deceased and the earth.

 

My plan is to be cremated because I cannot stomach the idea of putting another large, usually fancy, box in the ground with my body full of chemicals that are designed to preserve the dead body. I do understand that being able to view the deceased is a way to mourn but I have never been comfortable with the idea. It's been 31 years since my grandfather died, and 22 years since my dad died, and I still have the horrid images of their dead bodies lying in a casket while people took turns staring at them. I found it totally disrespectful. when I think of them, the way they looked at the funeral is the first vision in my mind. For the longest time after my dad was buried, I even thought about how slowly his body was decomposing and gross pictures pop into my mind. I have to look at pictures to remind me of how they looked when they were alive. I do not want my children to have that image of me after I die.

 

So yes, if this Swedish green burial were available for me, I would absolutely request it.

[amy g.]

I do not want to be embalmed. Dh doesn't want me to be cremated-it creeps him out. I'd be thrilled if my body was composted when I die, but then, I'm a major composting fan.

[Mejane]

My gut reaction is ewww. I prefer cremation.

[alpidarkomama]

It would be an anathema to Jews! We don't embalm, we bury in plain pine boxes (unless we're buried in Israel, in which case no box), and we're all buried in the same white shroud.

[Mejane]

It would be an anathema to Jews! We don't embalm, we bury in plain pine boxes (unless we're buried in Israel, in which case no box), and we're all buried in the same white shroud.

 

I think this is lovely, and it's the only other way I would go if I were not being cremated. The thought of all those lead-lined metal caskets in the ground make me ill.

[EmilyinND]

I know that it's totally different but I keep thinking "Soylent Green is People!" (Charlton Heston movie).

:lol: I watched that movie in high school & that line has always stuck with me!!

[elegantlion]

I know that it's totally different but I keep thinking "Soylent Green is People!" (Charlton Heston movie).

 

That was my thought as well. IDK, I have a hang up about cremation. I grew up going to a lot of funerals. For me there is something comforting about being able to say your good-byes to the actual body. I've been to a couple of funerals were the person was cremated and it totally freaked me out. I'm getting nauseous simply thinking about it. I don't know why really.

 

But I'm also the person that actually goes to cemeteries to pay respects to people who have been gone a long time.

[Nestof3]

It doesn't matter to me what happens to my body once I'm dead. I think it would be best to benefit someone in some way. Compost would be fine with me.

[squirtymomma]

I assume whatever happens to buried people. :) Sorry, I didn't mean to be unclear: I don't think that burial/cremation practices affect your eternal state. God is powerful enough to make bodies out of dust, ashes, whatever. I just meant to say that since we have bodies now, and will have bodies then, and that those bodies are part of what makes us human, that we ought to, whenever possible, treat those bodies with respect. Even after the soul has departed.

 

I agree with you. And cool that you're Anglican. I think we're heading that way ourselves. And I just looked at your blog and saw that you're a black belt. Me too. Can we be BFF? :lol:

[Ravin]

Well, I'm also one who thinks recycling body parts is a good idea, so I figure why not? Ideally, I'd like for all my donatable organs to be donated--without harvesting any tissues for some one else's profit, which pisses me off. I would then like my remains to be handled in a natural manner. In my case for spiritual/religious reasons my ideal would be to be burned on an open pyre (preferably in a casket built to resemble a ship) and then to have my ashes buried at sea. I'd also like a memorial stone or plaque somewhere, on my own land if I have any when I die, or in a national cemetery (I'm a veteran), so that there's a place for those who'd like to remember me can go to do so (some people find this beneficial as part of the mourning/grieving process).

[8circles]

My gut reaction is "are you serious? that's just wrong". but I can't really say why it's wrong & I expect its not. But that's my reaction.

[Murphy101]

I think it disrespectful of the dead.

Just as disrespectful as the embalming and current funeral process.

 

I'd like to see a return to the living room/parlor viewing after loved ones have cleaned and prepared the body, then a pine box and family burial.

 

And yeah, Soylent green came to mind.

Edited April 22, 2011 by Martha

[foxbridgeacademy]

There is a certain "eww" factor, but hey I'll be dead, what do I care? Either something like that, or cremation. I really like the way the movie "Elizabethtown" ended, with the fathers ashes being scattered across America. That sounds like something I would do with my parents, or have done with me.

I don't believe that the body has anything to do with what might come after death, just a place for it to reside for a time, so no religious issues.

[tex-mex]

I know that it's totally different but I keep thinking "Soylent Green is People!" (Charlton Heston movie).

:lol::lol::lol:

[mommaduck]

I think it disrespectful of the dead.

Just as disrespectful as the embalming and current funeral process.

 

I'd like to see a return to the living room/parlor viewing after loved ones have cleaned and prepared the body, then a pine box and family burial.

 

And yeah, Soylent green came to mind.

 

:iagree:

[Jean in Newcastle]

I think what bothers me about it, and why I thought of Soylent Green, is because it feels like the company is using corpses as an ingredient. I realize that there is a whole industry around death, so making money from managing the death and burial of people isn't new but perhaps the reference to fertilizer makes it seem more than just finding a final resting place.

[AvasMom]

I assume whatever happens to buried people. :) Sorry, I didn't mean to be unclear: I don't think that burial/cremation practices affect your eternal state. God is powerful enough to make bodies out of dust, ashes, whatever. I just meant to say that since we have bodies now, and will have bodies then, and that those bodies are part of what makes us human, that we ought to, whenever possible, treat those bodies with respect. Even after the soul has departed.

 

Ok, thanks for clarifying. :) I don't think, though, that composting is less respectful than cremation or burial if it honors the person's wishes. All three are pretty gruesome. Leaving a body to rot in the ground is gruesome, as it putting it in an oven and lighting it on fire really. I think this is just different and outside our current paradigm which is why it seems absurd to us.

[Cheryl in NM]

At its most basic explanation, it involves recycling human bodies as fertilizer, a process based on preserving the body in a biological form after death and returning it to the soil.

 

http://www.thelocal.se/33178/20110413/Swedish green-burial firm to turn frozen corpses in compost

 

I heard this on a radio show today and just gut reaction gross.

 

So I goggled when I got home and found this article. It still has a eek factor but it is not as bad as some of the pictures I got in my head

 

So what do you think gross or more like scattering ashes after a cremation

 

Would you want it done?

 

My first reaction was...

 

EEEWWWW!!! Close the thread quickly!

 

After that, it seems natural. I just don't know that I could handle it.

[OLG]

Disrespectful.

[Mom0012]

It makes me feel sick.:ack2:

 

Lisa

[LibraryLover]

http://funerals.naturalburialcompany.com/categories/Shrouds%2C-Liners-and-Burial-Garments/

 

http://funerals.naturalburialcompany.com/products/Organic-Cotton-Shroud.html

Edited April 23, 2011 by LibraryLover

[Kate CA]

I know that it's totally different but I keep thinking "Soylent Green is People!" (Charlton Heston movie).

 

Me too!!

:lol:

:ack2:

[Kate CA]

I don't want to grow tomatoes in someone else's remains!!

 

That is my gut reaction. GROSS.

:ack2::ack2:

[Upward Journey]

My first thought was BIOHAZARD.

 

Mine too!

[texasmama]

Gross.

[Audrey]

I think it's a fine option. It's not like they're digging up people. You have to want to do it.

 

Personally, I have asked in my will to be cremated and to have my ashes worked into the next spring tilling of the farm. Being composted would fine too. I just want to offer something back to this wonderful little piece of nowhere, even if it's just the fertilizer form of me.

[Free]

At its most basic explanation, it involves recycling human bodies as fertilizer, a process based on preserving the body in a biological form after death and returning it to the soil.

 

This seems like a great idea. I think this is much better for the earth than being cremated.

 

Perhaps now I can instead ask my kids to sprinkle me into their flower beds! ;)

 

I love the idea of being sprinkled into the flower beds :001_smile:

[Pretty in Pink]

My first thought had was of 'Soylent Green'...my next was that bodies would make excellent fertilizer. :tongue_smilie: It doesn't really bother me.

[kalanamak]

My "gut" reaction? Please let me die naturally first.

[Jean in Newcastle]

My "gut" reaction? Please let me die naturally first.

 

:lol:

[justamouse]

I think it disrespectful of the dead.

Just as disrespectful as the embalming and current funeral process.

 

I'd like to see a return to the living room/parlor viewing after loved ones have cleaned and prepared the body, then a pine box and family burial.

 

And yeah, Soylent green came to mind.

 

This. :iagree:

 

No. No composting me.

[annandatje]

When pondering death rituals, I have often wondered why this practice is not already in place for those who desire it.

[Truscifi]

My mom wants to be sprinkled on her rose bushes. Does it really matter if it is as ashes or compost? I think it's going to be just as hard either way.