I finished reading the book Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach. It was fascinating, palatable and great food for thought. I highly reccomend it, but don’t reccomend reading while eating, as it does deal with some pretty gross realities of life. It touched on several topics that I’ve been interested in, specifically, what do you do with the body when the soul has lef?. She took us through being donated to science and used in anatomy classrooms or as crash test dummies (for lack of a better term). She offered options of plastination, burial and cremation. It wasn’t until the very end of the book that she hit on the method that I’ve always thought made the most sense: water reduction, or in a more simplistic term, composting.

In this method they freeze-dry your body and then use ultrasound or mechanical vibration to shatter it. Once you have fallen to pieces, some bacteria would be added (much like natural bacteria that’s going to break you down eventually anyway) and the decomposition process would happen quite quickly. The remaining, very small pieces could then be composted, and you could plant a garden or a tree in it. The body would be returned to nature, which I think makes a lot of sense.

I have often visited cemeteries and my thoughts have been turned to the decomposing bodies that lie within coffins and vaults beneath my feet. Even though they have been embalmed, the body is slowly decomposing. The exact same thing is happening, only there is nothing beneficial coming from it. Instead of mucking up the insides of an overpriced casket, why not be useful and give a little back to the Earth? I remember as a child once broaching this question to my mother, saying that I’d rather be buried in a field somewhere and have flowers planted atop my decaying corpse. It sounded beautiful, romantic, and in a way, like living again. She told me that it would spread disease, and I have no romantic notions about disease. But, here you go, ten years later some lovely people in Sweden have come up with an answer!

I know someone out there is reading this and thinking, “that is so gross.” To an extent, I agree. When you get down to brass tacks I haven’t come across a single method of disposing of a body that isn’t pretty disgusting. Cremation is nasty, what with the burning of flesh, embalming and burial is enough to make me retch (especially when you consider the incredibly high prices one is required to pay for this service, and the fact that many in underprivileged countries can’t afford it at all), burial at sea involves horrible bloating (as if I haven’t done enough of that while I was alive!) And being eaten by sharks and crabs and any other marine life that cares to taste your special brand of cuisine. Water reduction is less expensive and there is almost no putrefaction involved. It’s quick (in the time frame of decay), and when you are done the Earth is better for it and your relatives can grow a lovely shade tree and think of you while they picnic beneath. The world doesn’t need more graveyards, but I am of the opinion that we could absolutely use more beauty, more tranquility and more healthful soil.