Death is an inevitable aspect of life. While the idea of not being alive often creates anxiety for many of us, it is one that we must embrace. Unfortunately, the impact your body can have on the world doesn’t end even after your death. Generally, people design a will, plans for a funeral and a burial usually way before their death-care needs to go into effect.
Most people are knowledgeable of the various funeral procedures, rites and rituals–burial and cremation are the most common of the ways. With the advancement of science, it has become increasingly evident that a burial or cremation impacts the environment in a non-friendly way. The amount of trees that are cut down for a casket and level of pollution emitted into the air through cremation negatively influences our planet.
An environmental friendly solution could be found in the creation of the Capsula Mundi project. The idea of this project is to place the body in a biodegradable burial pod that essentially will provide nutrients for a tree. The tree can be chosen by the person before passing away. The creators of the project state that, “Capsula Mundi is a container with an old perfect shape, just like an egg, made with modern material -starch plastic- in which the dead body is put in a fetal position. Capsula Mundi is planted like a seed in the soil, and a tree is planted on top of it.” One life helping give life to another, is there anything more beautiful?
How ironic is it that cutting down trees for casket can replaced with growing more and this still allows a family to be able to conduct the ceremony? It takes an average plant 20-30 years to turn into a full grown tree and for it to serve as a casket which is only used for a few days is certainly not the most productive of its uses.
The only unfortunate part of this project is that it is currently not a reality, but just a concept. The idea originates from Italy and so far the government has prohibited the practical use of the idea. However, enough support from the crowd (and those reading this) can help bring it to fruition.
Like we said before, death is an inevitable aspect of life, so why not make the best out of this process?
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