The global population is closing on 8 billion, and the amount of land available for human burial is running out. To minimise environmental impact, human bodies should return to nature as quickly as possible.
The Flow Ice Urn, which floats on the water while slowly releasing ashes in an unapologetically pure way. It is simple yet beautiful; and it brings to mind other funeral traditions that are intrinsically tied to the idea of returning the body to nature.
This week, Washington Governor signed a bill to allow the composting of human remains within the state. It is the only state in the US—and possibly the only government in the world—to explicitly allow "natural organic reduction" of human remains.
California, US legislators are considering a bill that would allow state funeral homes to start dissolving bodies in a chemical bath by 2020.
Bodies that are buried or cremated leach essential nutrients into ground. But human funerary practices mean they are being concentrated in cemeteries instead of being dispersed evenly throughout nature.
Forget the gloom and doom of crowded graveyards – you can know turn the ashes of your loved ones into a blossoming coral reef under the sea.
A unique new proposal introduced by Columbia University offers up an alternative way to honor the deceased by transforming the undercarriage of the Manhattan Bridge into a twinkling graveyard.
