You can now live on as a tree after you die

 

 

By Jay Pugazhenthi

It’s the green way to be buried.  

Your corpse, in the fetal position, is placed inside a biodegradable capsule which is then planted in soil with a sapling that feeds off your remains. Soon, a tree grows in it’s place.

You can even choose the type of tree. Birch? How about Maple? Or Eucalyptus?

An Italian company, Capsula Mundi, is behind the idea that is gaining momentum among younger people who find themselves questioning the value of a traditional funeral. 

For Taylor Leduc, a Licensed Funeral Director, the appeal is the idea that we finally return to the earth from which we came.

The selflessness and anonymity that a green burial offers is exactly what a typical funeral doesn’t. Mausoleums are a tribute to the legacy of a loved one. But those who are attracted to green burials “might put a plaque on a tree, perhaps, but they believe that once we’re dead, we’re just shells so there’s no casket involved.” They’re not embalmed either, so toxic chemicals aren’t being absorbed. It’s an environmentalist’s dream.

 

Although Leduc is surprised that green funerals haven’t yet become the norm, after 20 years in the field, he finds himself honoring traditional funerals as a celebration for the living more than the dead.  

The funeral industry is going through a transition period. 

Leduc sees older generations “burying a spouse, and they want all the hallmarks: two-day visitation, going to church, and that sort of thing.” However, when the younger generation buries a parent, he claims, “it’s not filled with the same traditions as the older generation. So, we’re seeing a lot of direct cremations with the memorial service later.” 

Leduc knew he wanted to be a funeral director when he was 10. He was enamored by the whole ritual of his great-grandmother’s funeral, as “there was something about walking into the funeral home, seeing the staff so well-dressed, the funeral service, going to church, going to the cemetery.” 

If there’s one thing that drew him to do what he loves doing, its tradition.  

But the main factor, today, is money. Leduc believes it comes down to generations valuing different things. Younger people “see funerals as a large expense and feel that they’re being taken advantage of because of the high cost of funerals. At the end of the day, it is a business.” 

Watch the full interview with Funeral Director Taylor Leduc.