Happy Atheist Forum

General => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: WogglebugLovingFilms on December 14, 2016, 06:54:56 AM

Title: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: WogglebugLovingFilms on December 14, 2016, 06:54:56 AM
I happened to find a Facebook post (I can't recall which group or page it was from) some time ago that posed this new idea of leaving behind a tree instead of a tombstone after we die. It works like this, first be cremated and then have the ashes buried along with a tree seed of your choice and then (at least when the tree has reached its full growth) you will have left behind a tree as your marker of your life instead of a desolate tombstone. I personally found this idea to be very intriguing, and to have merit to it. I mean, the comparison seems to make the one more preferable seem obvious. 
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Recusant on December 14, 2016, 07:35:39 AM
It's a fine idea--I'm all for it.  :blue smiley:
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Asmodean on December 14, 2016, 07:43:16 AM
I'm leaving behind a pile of ash and a slab of pavement - out of pure spite.
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Arturo on December 14, 2016, 10:08:04 PM
I actually want to do this, but have not have my body burned.
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: xSilverPhinx on December 17, 2016, 07:56:03 PM
I'd love for my ashes to be buried under a bonsai. :tellmemore:

There's just something about mini trees.
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Arturo on December 17, 2016, 11:53:58 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on December 17, 2016, 07:56:03 PM
I'd love for my ashes to be buried under a bonsai. :tellmemore:

There's just something about mini trees.

Ha at one point I wanted my remains to be used to grow peyote but I've abandoned the idea now that I no longer talk to drug users.
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: No one on December 17, 2016, 11:56:16 PM
I prefer to rot where I drop.
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Icarus on December 18, 2016, 12:13:29 AM
I am on board with that idea.  A tree will be far kinder and far more valuable to the earth than a brass, marble, or granite tombstone......    I doubt that my ashes would  provide much nourishment for a tree but lets have the tree any way. Bury my ashes along with a fish or some other contribution to the soil.
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Dragonia on February 08, 2017, 01:53:34 AM
I can't believe I missed this thread. I am fascinated by the different things one can do with a loved ones' ashes. And this is probably the one I would choose for myself. I'd like to be in the country, and maybe have a fruit tree planted on top of me, so that maybe a teeny weeny part of me could feed a bird or house some bees or whatever.
Or i could just get thrown in the trash. I'll be dead. I won't much care!
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Mr. B on February 08, 2017, 02:36:18 AM
Quote from: No one on December 17, 2016, 11:56:16 PM
I prefer to rot where I drop.

Me too. I used to joke that when it was close to my time to die (if it be by slow natural causes) I would just wander off into the woods and let the earth reclaim me. At least, I said it jokingly. For me, it wasn't a joke.

I don't want my body to be pumped full of formaldehyde and entombed in an impenetrable box.  I want my body to become one with the earth as soon as possible without adding pollution to the environment. However, I really like the idea of planting a tree instead of a tombstone.

I am reminded of the tradition of the Pequeninos from the Ender's Game series.

Fathertrees.

Sounds backwards and superstitious from a sci-fi novel perspective but it makes sense to me. So, yeah...put a tree seed in my corpse and let it grow.

Two thumbs up.

http://enderverse.wikia.com/wiki/Pequeninos
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Dragonia on February 08, 2017, 03:32:05 AM
Enders Game: my very very favorite sci-fi series ever. My cousin loved it so much, she named her first born son Ender.

And as for more natural means of after-death care, there's a growing movement of people wanting no embalming, no treatment, just being left for nature to reclaim, either by burial (that's actually good for the earth) or cremation. If you're at all interested, you should check out Caitlyn Doughty on YouTube. She's a funeral director in L.A. (I think), doing alternative care for the dead. She's entertaining and inspirational and educational. I want to be her.
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Mr. B on February 08, 2017, 03:59:18 AM
Thanks Dragonia, I'll check it out. Disposal of my body is something that I have given serious thought to. I simply do not like the current traditional options.

Still, a cemetery full of trees is a beautiful thought.
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Arturo on February 08, 2017, 07:03:52 AM
Quote from: Dragonia on February 08, 2017, 03:32:05 AM
Enders Game: my very very favorite sci-fi series ever. My cousin loved it so much, she named her first born son Ender.

And as for more natural means of after-death care, there's a growing movement of people wanting no embalming, no treatment, just being left for nature to reclaim, either by burial (that's actually good for the earth) or cremation. If you're at all interested, you should check out Caitlyn Doughty on YouTube. She's a funeral director in L.A. (I think), doing alternative care for the dead. She's entertaining and inspirational and educational. I want to be her.

That's what I want to do, even though I'm only 24 I think about what I'm doing with my left overs. Definitely considered leaving myself in the ground naturally and have a tree planted over me.
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Dave on February 08, 2017, 07:36:32 AM
Good idea, but not original.

Schemes exist here in the UK but, unfortunately, they are either trees for your own garden (marketting strstegy) of dedications of existing trees in existing forests or arboretums (fund raising strategy).

Sorry for my scepticism but can't find a scheme thst garantees the tree's ecistence until it dies a natural death. But, even then, it will have done something for the enviroment and gone towards balancing the CO2 produced during incineration or rotting in the ground (though the latter involves no "fossil" CO2 release). (Hmm, perhaps there should be a law to say all crematoria are fuelled only by "new" gas from waste food digesters?)

In the end it is how the successors feel that really matters.
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: joeactor on February 08, 2017, 02:54:33 PM
Quote from: Dragonia on February 08, 2017, 03:32:05 AM
Enders Game: my very very favorite sci-fi series ever. My cousin loved it so much, she named her first born son Ender.

Cool cousin! I liked that series also. The movie was ok (got to double for Harrison Ford on that one).

I'm all for being a tree when I go. Doesn't really matter to me, but it's nice to be kind to the planet on the way out.

Or... There's this:
http://www.lifegem.com/ (http://www.lifegem.com/)
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Dragonia on February 08, 2017, 08:40:43 PM
Joeactor! You got to be a double for Harrison Ford in Enders game?!?!? That's so cool!   Of course, the book was WAY better than the movie, but I would have jumped at the chance.
And I have read about turning a loved one into a diamond or a gem. It's a crazy idea, but super expensive. And can you imagine losing THAT diamond?  :shocked:
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: joeactor on February 08, 2017, 09:09:36 PM
Quote from: Dragonia on February 08, 2017, 08:40:43 PM
Joeactor! You got to be a double for Harrison Ford in Enders game?!?!? That's so cool!   Of course, the book was WAY better than the movie, but I would have jumped at the chance.
And I have read about turning a loved one into a diamond or a gem. It's a crazy idea, but super expensive. And can you imagine losing THAT diamond?  :shocked:

Thanks! Yeah, that was a lot of fun. Wish I got to meet him too, but it was just me in a booth. Doubled some other celebs too. If they can't play, I get paid!

Not sure how I feel about the diamond thing. It's a bit... weird... to wear a dead person. Maybe it's just me ;-)
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Mr. B on February 09, 2017, 05:25:39 AM
You could always have your loved ones cremated ashes turned into a coffee mug.

https://cremationdesigns.com/product/coffee-mug/

It's a real thing that some people do. I suspect that the company just takes the ashes you send them and dump them into the trash then sell you a regular porcelain cup for $200 bucks.

But, if they actually do use the ashes of your loved ones to create a coffee cup....well....bottoms up mom. 
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Magdalena on February 09, 2017, 05:57:55 AM
Quote from: Mr. B on February 09, 2017, 05:25:39 AM
You could always have your loved ones cremated ashes turned into a coffee mug.

https://cremationdesigns.com/product/coffee-mug/

It's a real thing that some people do. I suspect that the company just takes the ashes you send them and dump them into the trash then sell you a regular porcelain cup for $200 bucks.

But, if they actually do use the ashes of your loved ones to create a coffee cup....well....bottoms up mom.
QuoteOur memorial products help fold the memory of passed loved ones into daily life by transforming ashes into remarkable design objects for your home.
OK.
Now...I think I want to come back as an ashtray.  :notsure:
Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Asmodean on February 09, 2017, 11:09:40 AM
Quote from: Mr. B on February 09, 2017, 05:25:39 AM
I suspect that the company just takes the ashes you send them and dump them into the trash then sell you a regular porcelain cup for $200 bucks.
Ah! Good business sense. Although, can one not like fertilise the office plants with them ashes in stead? Waste not! :tellmemore:
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Dragonia on February 09, 2017, 01:22:47 PM
Man... I am really in the wrong business. I could totally make those coffee cups, for WAY less than $200! I would mix your ashes into the actual clay, so you're actually part of the item, not just in the glaze. And Mags, that Ashtray, I could rock that Ashtray. I'll give everyone on this forum a fantastic deal.... when you die, I'll make whatever clay creation your family wants and I'm giving you all a great deal! Just use the code word "Dragon" at checkout and you'll get a 75% discount!
I'm feeling a new career coming..... kind of getting inspired....
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Bad Penny II on February 09, 2017, 01:34:54 PM
I'd like to be mulched, portioned into 100 gram bags, frozen and gifted to my kookaburra kin when the season turns averse.
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Asmodean on February 09, 2017, 04:58:29 PM
Quote from: Dragonia on February 09, 2017, 01:22:47 PM
Man... I am really in the wrong business. I could totally make those coffee cups, for WAY less than $200! I would mix your ashes into the actual clay, so you're actually part of the item, not just in the glaze. And Mags, that Ashtray, I could rock that Ashtray. I'll give everyone on this forum a fantastic deal.... when you die, I'll make whatever clay creation your family wants and I'm giving you all a great deal! Just use the code word "Dragon" at checkout and you'll get a 75% discount!
I'm feeling a new career coming..... kind of getting inspired....
The Asmo IS a clay creation.  >:(

Say, can you weave Him into some ash sculpture, perhaps?  :notsure:
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Dave on February 09, 2017, 05:06:36 PM
Quote from: Asmodean on February 09, 2017, 04:58:29 PM
Quote from: Dragonia on February 09, 2017, 01:22:47 PM
Man... I am really in the wrong business. I could totally make those coffee cups, for WAY less than $200! I would mix your ashes into the actual clay, so you're actually part of the item, not just in the glaze. And Mags, that Ashtray, I could rock that Ashtray. I'll give everyone on this forum a fantastic deal.... when you die, I'll make whatever clay creation your family wants and I'm giving you all a great deal! Just use the code word "Dragon" at checkout and you'll get a 75% discount!
I'm feeling a new career coming..... kind of getting inspired....
The Asmo IS a clay creation.  >:(

Say, can you weave Him into some ash sculpture, perhaps?  :notsure:
The Asmo sounds pretty hard baked to start with . . .
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Mr. B on February 09, 2017, 07:48:41 PM
Quote from: Asmodean on February 09, 2017, 11:09:40 AM
Quote from: Mr. B on February 09, 2017, 05:25:39 AM
I suspect that the company just takes the ashes you send them and dump them into the trash then sell you a regular porcelain cup for $200 bucks.
Ah! Good business sense. Although, can one not like fertilise the office plants with them ashes in stead? Waste not! :tellmemore:

I like the way you think.
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Arturo on February 09, 2017, 09:09:10 PM
Quote from: Asmodean on February 09, 2017, 04:58:29 PM
Quote from: Dragonia on February 09, 2017, 01:22:47 PM
Man... I am really in the wrong business. I could totally make those coffee cups, for WAY less than $200! I would mix your ashes into the actual clay, so you're actually part of the item, not just in the glaze. And Mags, that Ashtray, I could rock that Ashtray. I'll give everyone on this forum a fantastic deal.... when you die, I'll make whatever clay creation your family wants and I'm giving you all a great deal! Just use the code word "Dragon" at checkout and you'll get a 75% discount!
I'm feeling a new career coming..... kind of getting inspired....
The Asmo IS a clay creation.  >:(

Say, can you weave Him into some ash sculpture, perhaps?  :notsure:

The Asmo is a clay creation? But if the Asmo is the Asmo, then who created the Asmo?
Title: Re: New idea: Leave a Tree Behind (Instead of a Tombstone)
Post by: Icarus on February 16, 2017, 02:54:30 AM
I recently went for the Neptune society deal. They will...or at least promise to do the whole routine of retrieving the body, taking care of the legal stuff that is involved in the dying process, and cremating the remains, then furnishing a cheap ass plastic box in which to put the ashes. All in all it costs a whole lot less than a conventional funeral service and all the bullshit scams that the funeral homes do to inflate the price toward national debt status.

Now I learn that Dragonia will make my ashes into a coffee cut for cheap. I am up for that and I think it a hell of a bargain as well as a fitting end to my miserable carcass.  Hail to Dragonia for proposing a real business deal.

On the other hand there is the final disposition that Neil DeGrasse Tyson proposed for himself. Some Christian type asked what he would have done with him when he died. He said that he would die and not be embalmed, then buried in the earth so that his remains could provide some nourishment for whatever animal or vegetative life forms might profit from the chemical constituents of his body. That is in the same ball park as the tree thing, only more succinctly stated.  That bit is out there somewhere on YouTube video.

Sad to say that Niels preference is illegal in almost every state.