Composting/Cremation/Burials

Okaym at some point I may have to re-name my blog "Things to Think About" as well as places to go, but today I was reading the Harpers October issue (see To Be a Field of Poppies, pg. 36) and there was an interesting article on RECOMPOSE, a company created to compost human remains, rapidly and safely. Since I am 76 years old, I have given some thought to what I would like done with my remains. Needless to say, the first time many of us give any thought to this is when our parents die. Both of my parents were cremated in West Virginia and their ashes scattered in a memorial garden beneath a tree on the front hill. I always thought that was what I would do also, but in this article, several important points are made about the environmental impact of different forms of dealing with human remains after death. We all know New Jersey is a crowded place and as bad as it is to see farmland continually converted into housing developments, it seems even more wasteful to convert it to cemeteries. You must have seen the huge, almost endless vistas of cemeteries on the road to New York from New Jersey. It is shocking to those of us down here in the south of Jersey who are more used to the small, quaint burial places behind the local churches. Recently, I blogged about the disappearing cemeteries, those abandoned as the churches close and the people move on. The stones fall over, the mowers stop mowing and the saplings and weeds take over, joined by dumping of trash.

What I didn't know was that cremation puts a lot of pollution into the air and now that nearly half of hte people who die these days are cremated that is something to consider. In the article, which details the process and issues, they mention that it takes only 30 days to compost efficiently. Natural burials take about two years for a body to decompose, and as we who watch archaeology programs are well aware, bones ccan go on for a long long long time! I checked to see if composting was available in New Jersey yet and it is not but there were posts from funeral homes that said they would do it when it becomes legal. Apparently it is not that economical financially however. They said the average ordinary funeral burial arrangement costs about $7,000 to 10,000 and a Recompose costs at rpresent about $5,000 in Washington State where it is now legal. Cremation costs about $1000, so at this point, I will stick with cremation but if it becomes legal in New Jersey to compost human remains and the price goes down, when my time comes, that would be my choice! Hopefully it is a long way off!

Speaking of cemeteries, however, I must add that my favorites are Harleigh, resting place of Walt Whitman and a lovely place to visit for a walk or a drive, and Eglington in Mickleton. I haven't visited very many and it isn't a bad idea. I have seen numerous small churchyard cemeteries such as those behind the Friends' Meeting Houses in Haddonfield and Salem and Greeenwich.

Happy Trails! wrightj45@yahoo.com