It’s a big universe, but let’s get this straight: it all revolves around me. Words of such arrogance and hubris have never been scrawled onto a page. These words apply to all of us at one time or another, particularly when contemplating one’s own mortality.
I may not have been confronted with my own existential crisis, but that of a close friend belted me across my jaw and made me wonder about when I would slip off my own mortal coil of life. My friend developed a heart condition over a couple of years that left her eternally tired and unable to lead the active life she had once enjoyed. She was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat. In addition, she has MVR or mitral valve regurgitation. Without trying and failing to explain this medical condition, which I do not fully understand, it’s sufficient to say that her heart was not adequately pumping blood throughout her body to replenish oxygen, and this was leading to her profound and eternal fatigue.
It was painful and saddening to see someone of such vigor and spirit be trapped within her failing body. Fortunately, she had a procedure that helped restore her heart functionality, but she is still in a weakened state and tires easily. So, what does it mean to me, an antisocial, misanthropic introvert who believes the universe revolves around himself? It’s a wakeup call. What my friend’s misery tells me is that none of us is immortal and at 62, I am closer to being dead than being born. It’s time to prepare for that fact.
It was at about this time that I began to see postings from a company by the name of Earth Funeral. The basic premise is this: the company will take your remains and transform them into enriched compost that is suitable for gardening or donation to an agreed upon conservation site. This process, according to Earth Funeral, has significantly less environmental impact than any of the other afterlife processes.
Of course, questions arise. Does that mean I can grow vegetables with the transformed remains of Grandpa Joe? Absolutely! But to treat the transformation with such flippancy and disregard is to insult the solemnity and celebration of a life well-lived, or, as in my case, not so well lived. We humans attach great reverence and meaning to end-of-life rituals. Earth Funeral treats those using their service with the utmost care and respect, as it has become the norm in the afterlife industry.
While you can get a full, detailed description of their services by clicking the link above, the process is fairly simple yet profound. After you die, your remains are in a “reusable container” or transformation ship as I like to call it.
Earth Funeral adds mulch, wood chips and wild flowers to the remains in order to facilitate the decomposition process. The vessel is sealed and maintains a temperature of 131-160 degrees Fahrenheit. According to the company’s website, “Over 30-45 days, microorganisms break down all organic matter completely, safely processing medications while retaining valuable nutrients.”
What about the bones? The bones and teeth would not break down in this time frame, so they are ground down and then incorporated into soil. At the end of the process, the afterlife remains have been transformed into approximately 300 pounds or one cubic yard of nutrient-rich soil. The family or loved ones chose how much they retain for memorial plantings or gardens. The remainder is destined for conservation and reforesting.
Christine Villaseñor, Senior Care advisor for Earth Funeral told me that initially the conservation site is on the Olympic peninsula of Washington state, but others are planned in Las Vegas, Nevada as well California and the East Coast.
One of the aspects that Earth Funeral emphasized is the lowered environmental impact of the Earth Funeral transformation process. According to Earth Funeral representatives, their process compares quite favorably to conventional afterlife services like burial, cremation or even aquamation.
It’s no small surprise that it’s an appealing selling point to many in the baby boomer generation, of which I count myself at the very tail end. Arguably, baby boomers have been the most environmentally destructive generation ever to walk the earth. The legacy of environmental malfeasance is well documented and the effects of the boomers will be felt for generations to come. It is no wonder that generational guilt plays out, either consciously or unconsciously, with the boomers’ last act being one that sustains and renews the earth rather than destroying it. Earth Funeral has recognized this desire and tapped into it with their process of human composting.
To participate in this type of end-of-life transformation takes planning and consideration. Currently, the cost is $5,495 with a variety of ceremonial remembrance options available for the friends and family of the deceased. In this respect, it is comparable to conventional funeral arrangements, but somewhat less expensive and significantly less environmentally impactful than conventional arrangements.
At this point, it’s necessary to take what might seem like a tangent, but it will connect, I promise.
To put it mildly, I lead an isolated life. All the solid friendships I have, I could count on one hand, and close family members, even less. How I got to this sad and isolated state is a treatise for another day. In 2000, Robert Putnam published the book, “Bowling Alone.” Still today, it remains the seminal work in exploring our disconnectedness with each other, our communities and our governing structures. Our relationships with our screens, which are both televised and personalized, have become more important to us than our relationships with our immediate communities. Our society seeks connection through disembodied digital means, not physical ones.
If anything, a desire to pursue such a course of action seems like the ultimate reconnect with the natural world. After a life tethered to the human creations of technology, my body is now going to be transformed into soil for eternity.
Earth Funeral recognizes the disconnected moment we are living through and seeks to bridge the divide to the beyond. The preplanning and support of this need by Earth Funeral entails discussions with friends and chosen family. In fact, that is the name of one of the sections, Earth Funeral devoted to this delicate subject.
I say delicate because a wide range of self-judgement and self-assessment fills your mind and heart when contemplating one’s journey to the end of life. Did I have a good life? What will my friends and family think of me when I pass? Will they think of me at all? As referenced above, we are increasingly disconnected from our community and family structures and oftentimes, the only people we have in our lives to have this discussion with are our friends.
In a way, this journey of self-education is where the discussion begins for me. If I am to have this conversation with my friends, I have to be informed and be ready to answer questions. I don’t want my decisions or desires to be a burden on them after I pass.
Earth Funeral was not long on details about how to broach the subject of soil transformation with friends, but they did give some starter statements to break the ice of this discussion. It starts with, “I’ve been thinking about my end-of-life plans …” From there, you describe your thinking and your values on the subject with your friends and get their perspectives on the issue.
While many questions arise at the end of life, the mystery of what happens to my physical body is answered by Earth Funeral’s services. They provide peace of mind to someone, such as myself, who is in a state of social isolation. But that’s the physical me. What about the spiritual me? What about my soul? Now, before I go on, I want to say up front that what I am about to put forward appears nowhere in the Earth Funeral literature. This is because they are advocates for afterlife care for your body. Many deep questions confront one when considering end-of-life issues. Long asterisk short: don’t blame or hold accountable Earth Funeral for my musings on spirituality. They’re mine.
Like many, I am not a particularly religious person, believing that religions are fairy tales to keep us morally in line at best and wedges to separate us and legitimize brutality towards each other at worst. So, as I am considering the return of my physical being to the earth in a broken-down, microtized form, I wondered … could that happen to my soul, as well? I’ve always been struck by the idea of the unitary soul and the absurdity of it. I mean, does each religion have its own database administrator to decide where the souls go after they are repurposed for reincarnation? It seems like a huge data collection and administration challenge for religions. No one has ever explained that aspect of religion to me. No. I like my idea better. I think the soul gets composted right along with the physical body. At which point, these microtized elements of the human soul are reassembled into a whole new spiritual being.
I believe there is not enough love in this world. I think and feel that this belief system would empower a greater love and understanding of humanity and all the creatures on this earth. Through the belief of the composted soul, we would find greater love for one another, because we recognize that we are the other and we can’t help but love the other, because as we love them, we love ourselves.
Of course, as I started this tangent into spirituality, I did say I felt that religions were manipulative fairy tales that provide fodder for belief. The power is in the belief. The idea of the composted soul makes sense to me and to connect me to the spiritual universe, particularly given that I am considering having my physical body composted and returned to nature through the services of Earth Funeral. Setting all that aside, like all the other religions, it’s a fairy tale, and is powered by my beliefs in it, not by evidence. Ultimately, nodding to the power of belief: I believe you will go, where you believe you will go.
Returning to the realm of the physical world, back from the spiritual one, I can say this for a fact: Earth Funeral services has given me much to think about and consider as I move into this stage of my life. Regardless of what type of afterlife service suits your needs, the Earth Funeral services discussion has led me to look at death as part of life, not just an end to it.
