Recompose offers a greener alternative to burial or cremation.

End of life decisions are a topic that many people avoid for various personal reasons. However, it seems to be something no one has yet to avoid. Traditional services, like cremation and conventional burial, have been around for ages. Recompose CEO Katrina Spade and Dr. Lynne Carpenter-Boggs are pioneering a new, green, way to memorialize loved ones. Recompose, a Washington based company, offers an alternative to the traditional end of life options. Recompose offers a “natural organic reduction” that utilizes natural biological processes to transform remains into soil that can be shared with loved ones and friends. “Recomposition offers an alternative, to embalming and burial or cremation, that is natural, safe, sustainable, and will result in significant savings in carbon emissions and land usage.” – Recompose founder and CEO Katrina Spade

The benefits of this type of service are quite profound. For those of us who have made funeral arrangements for loved ones, we notice that both casket plots and urn plots both take up quite a bit of land. As we consider population growth, both buildable land and additional burial space starts to take on a mathematical conundrum that may pose an imminent problem. Space restrictions aside, looking at the environmental concerns, the process of cremation and casket assembly both contribute to CO2 pollution through the energy needed for both of these options.

If you or your loved one lived a green, eco-friendly life, why not continue that lifestyle after you pass on. While I know it is not the most pleasant topic to discuss, if given the choices, why not choose an option that returns your physical form to something that sustains future life.

Here at Tree In A Box, we offer customizable memorial kits to celebrate the life of your loved one. We think that combining a loved ones recomposed soil along with a tree kit is a wonderful way to have a beautiful living memorial. I can share from personal experience, that I have several trees on my property that are living memorials to loved ones in my own family. I enjoy caring for and watching each one grow and thrive. Each time I visit one of our memorial trees, I think of fond memories of the loved one each tree represents.

We hope this information gives you something to think about and consider for your end of life plans. We urge you to look into this alternative and decide if it is something that may be right for you.