Death never looked so green and leafy
You’ve heard of burial, mummification, and cremation. You’ve probably even heard of water burial, sky burial, and space burial. What you may not have heard of, however, is literally dying to become a tree. This is exactly what has been proposed by the Italy-based project Capsula Mundi.
Designed by Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel, Capsula Mundi has introduced the concept of biodegradable urns for ashes and egg-shaped pods for bodies that will either have a seed buried in the pod or have a sapling planted directly on top of the pod. The project will offer a large variety of trees to choose from; the choices are limited only by environmental conditions such as latitude, climate, and soil type.
The Capsula Mundi project offers an environmentally friendly alternative to preserving one’s memory since it would save a tree, which would otherwise be used to make a coffin, while also planting a tree. The project may also help people view trees and the environment in general with a greater degree of respect as they begin to associate departed loved ones with the natural world.
According to the project, eventually, these “memory forests” would replace cemeteries marked by tombstones. The trees would differ from tombstones in that they would not be marked by anything. Instead, each tree will be plotted on a GPS system that allows visitors to easily locate their loved ones. Visiting lost loved ones in a beautiful forest rather than a graveyard would certainly introduce some comfort during the initial mourning process. To be marked by something living rather than something inanimate like a tombstone would certainly help to focus reflection on the life of the deceased rather than his or her death. In the unlikely event that a tree dies, the company’s website explains that a similar tree will be planted as a replacement.
While the concept is really very interesting and appealing, and even though space burial is a thing, it’s actually illegal to be buried in this way in some parts of the world. Even once the project moves out of the development phase and into its distribution and sales phases, this type of burial still may not be available to everyone for quite some time.