My grandfather, bless'im, was given six months to live and didn't make his will until two weeks before his death. That'd be bad enough if he didn't have a lot, but he had over a million dollars in assets, savings, etc. that he hadn't made any plans for because [???]
I told my mom, if I go first, just tie a brick to my foot and bury me at sea. I'll be dead, I don't care, lol. Actually, I want my body donated to science. No big ceremony, I want a party where people tell stupid stories and laugh at me.
Honestly thank goodness my mom told my sister and I, once we were adults, what she wanted us to do with her body when she died. She has a will and went through it with my sister and I so there wouldn’t be any surprises. She told us what things she wanted us to have and made sure we understood her wishes. My mom was also an elder care social worker before she retired so the business of dying was part of her job. I think that’s a big part of why she was so open in talking about her plans with us. It wasn’t a happy topic but she did it anyway.
the only thing I know my dad wants is to hold up traffic as much as possible. He said, "I don't care if you have to pay people $20 a pop as they leave the cemetery, I want the longest train possible from the church to the cemetery."
I love how he sarcastically said “that’s how you can live on, Glen. You can become part of the soil and grow new plants,” as if that’s NOT how bodies have been breaking down since bodies existed.
"Good for you, Glen. Being fed off by microscopic organisms who will then nurture the ecosystem. What a wonderful way to provide for the planet once you're dead >:((". What does he think corpses do? Turn into plastic?
Well, if they’re stuck in a casket, they are basically turning into chemically tainted organic soup that just festers in there doing no good to anything until the casket itself finally cracks. That’s so much more comforting. 🙄
@@kellyalves756 Exactly! Cultural differences I suppose but the idea of being buried in a sealed box stresses me out (I know dead me wouldn't care but I'd much rather be composted).
"even their bones will be put in there" I'm glad he cleared this up for me. I thought I was going to have to de-bone and filet my bodies before I threw them on the pile.
@@Chattepliee Nutritious bone broth! And don't gardens need calcium? Maybe add it to bird feed during nesting season for eggshell security! Actually, that's a good idea... #vegan
They're, completely forgetting that burying something is basically the same as composting. I was a gardener in a grave yard for a while. Some of the most amazing plants and flowers can grow if you just let them. The amount of orchids that just grow naturally on top of graves is amazing.
Watching them ping pong back and forth from “humans are super special and their dead bodies must be ceremonially held in reverence forever” to “what am I gonna do with a pillow when I’m dead? Just shove me in a box, who cares I’m just a corpse” gave me whiplash
@@theturtwig50 11:30 I think about that tic tok chica, that accidently used gorilla glue on her hair- these kids super glueing their hand to a Starbucks countertop over oatmilk, they have not struggled *enough*
Yep. I mean, I don't personally see much value in inherent respect of human bodies - I see it as a bodily autonomy issue. Once the person's dead, it's no one else's business what they want done with the corpse, as long as it doesn't harm anyone else. A dead body only needs respect in the sense that what the person requested be done with their body is done. I don't see the human body as having any inherent value, it's simply the vessel someone's mind and soul inhabited, and once that inhabitant is gone, the corpse holds no special significance. Obviously respect what the person wanted, but it's not like a human corpse has some metaphysical value an animal corpse does not. Personally, I don’t really care what happens to my body once I'm no longer using it, just as long as my loved ones don't waste money on the funeral on things a corpse doesn't actually need.
@@theturtwig50 - Actually, Glenn Beck started his own network some years ago, "The Blaze". I have never watched him, but I would not be surprized if he were still an LDS conservative.
Just so you know, my dad announced at Christmas Eve dinner that his burial plans had changed to composting. Previously we were to cremate him and sprinkle his ashes on the tomatoes. My dad (a devout Catholic, I will note), said he didn't want the carbon footprint of cremation given composting as an alternative. I think he also might have said that to freak out my father in law. My sister told him that it might be easier to go the machete and garden composter route. My mother in law is a gardener and enjoyed this conversation. Is my dad a deathling? Is he reading this comment right now? Who knows!!
The compost heap should grow flowers, and the flowers should go to the vegetable garden. I have no objection to some girl getting married over my dead body. There's something on this in Heinlein's The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.
When I was a kid I thought everyone who was buried turned into soil and helped plants grow, and it was comforting to me. I’m so thankful that that’s becoming a more accessible option!
I am the exact same! And I was horrified as a child when the adults told me "oh no, the insects won't be able to get to you through your coffin", like, how will I get eaten and be useful to the circle of life then?? Just let me be eaten by something damn.
I hurt my back and had some medical stuff go Rong it made me think of my death . I'm a horticulturist and I love NZs native trees and birds. It's a funny long story but we buried my grandmother in a Pohutukawa wood coffin, so I decided I'm going to grow a Pohutukawa trees bonzi Stile so that when I die it can be planted on top of me . But I'm not allowed to have that so instead instead of a funeral like normal I just want to be cremated and have my family and friends dig a hole out by a beach or nature reserve by where I grew up, sprinkle my ashes in the hole and around the tree as they plant it . That's what I'd like to happen anyway. Have a stainless steel plate with my name and everything on chained to the tree .
I've told my kids/husband that I want to be cremated and I want a bell on my urn. So, when people ask, they can say "my mom was afraid of being buried alive so she wanted a bell" and then they can wait awkwardly and then laugh at how dumb it is. But now I'm wondering if they should just each have a dummy urn, with a little note from me inside, because I'm loving this idea of human composting. Update: My 16yr old said she think it's a good idea. Death plan updated!!
The "You would bury the horse" comment really stood out to me, as a horse person, because it's actually far from the truth! In most cases, simply burying a horse is illegal in my area. A lot of local ordinances forbid it, and many horse owners don't own the land their horses live on anyway. In my experience, most are hauled to a landfill. When my first horse died, I opted to pay for an exorbitantly expensive cremation for her, because the thought of my dearest friend being hauled to a landfill was horrifying. Even with paying for the expensive cremation, I had to face the horrifying reality of a gruff truck driver dragging her into a flatbed by her neck via a winch strap. There is a sore need for dignified care for the bodies of large animals.
Definitely a thing in past though. Though taxidermy and other bodily uses were also more common. And I do bristle at that though that your beloved friend would be dumped at landfill, when she could have been buried in a pasture, possibly with a tree over her, so maybe other horses could have some shade. Definitely need more dignified care for beloved animals, and clear guidelines on what to do, with less regulation.
I had a giant dog that lots of people jokingly called a horse. He was too big to bury in my yard (legally or practically), so I had to haul his body to the vet's for disposal. I asked a few questions about what would happen and was glad to receive honest answers. It's a very personal decision, and I think the difficulty is eased somewhat when the options are discussed factually.
Yes absolutely we should be able to bury our large animals. There's a race horse buried outside where I work with a gravestone and everything. It's honestly so sweet that he was so loved (he's not even a famous one) and that he remains part of our community
Even worse, in my area they are hauled off to be rendered; I don't know how prevalent that is elsewhere as well. So I also paid the exhoribitant expense to have my horse cremated.
I like how Caitlyn started her UA-cam channel as a place where you could get answers to questions like “what happens to breast implants during cremation?” To now where she’s *changing the world*
I laughed so hard at the part where he said you wouldn’t use your dead horse to grow your garden… as someone who grew up on a ranch, yes, yes I literally actually did help bury much loved horses with a tractor and plant raspberry bushes and cucumber plants on top of them, that produce was delicious by the way and no it wasn’t creepy or horrible, it was normal and healthy and I even remember thinking it’s too bad we couldn’t have a no fuss no muss situation like that for people
I grew up in farming communities and that tickled me because nearly every farmer or rancher you ask will tell you that, when their livestock dies/ is slaughtered, any leftovers will be buried as fertilizer. And yes, having eaten livestock-fertilized produce, they're damn delicious.
I grew up in the suburbs (although I've spent more time semi rural now), and even when I was a kid under 10. The ground breaks up organic matter (like animals) and turns it into nutrients for plants to grow. It honestly doesn't phase me. I'm probably going to go for the whole natural burial thing. All going to end up as nutrients one way or another, why slow it down. Unless I have an infectious disease that survives after death. In that case, do whatever you can to stop the spread.
Me too! I instantly thought about the local farm where I buy my pork and chicken. They compost the bones & unused parts of the pigs and, in fact, my friend has a very nice garden plot that was started with a truckload of that compost. I helped him pick up the compost and spread it on his new garden plot. It never seemed strange to me. These talking heads are just showing how out of touch they are.
As a member of a Federally Recognized Tribe who sits on Tribal Council, I'm working on a presentation on green burials. We first need to set aside land for a dedicated green and/or composting site. Thank you so much for all of your excellent teachings!!
That’s what’s up. Thank You for doing all that thankless legwork to make this planet a better place for the generations that will follow us. You’re a rockstar. 💚
Our cat died recently and I explained it to my 4 year old in terms of her body becoming tree food. It helped him understand and connect death to everyday life. It’s a lot less scary knowing what happens after death.
My grandmother was going off about this the other day. It’s new and at her age, especially related to death, I’d imagine new is scary. Since she’s religious, I actually offered her the “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” line and it clicked a little.
THIS I feel like this is one of the best ways to explain it to more conservative, and especially, Christian people. Traditionally, Catholic funeral rites are more likely to involve burial of a body in a coffin... in order to most closely allow this process. I would love if more people could see composting as yet another way of allowing you to "return to dust" 🙂
I am actually a Christian and that is one reason why I believe in it because to me it is a Biblically sound worldview to take (along with being environmentally friendly and my body not rotting in a box or being set on fire). God formed Adam out of the dust of the earth and Ecclesiastes says “For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” Ecclesiastes 12:7
My wife has long told me that she wants to be buried so that her body can nourish the roses and lilacs that will be planted on her grave. Then when people come to her grave they can take flowers rather than leaving them. Even in death she wants to give to and comfort others, adding beauty to the world. It's part of why I love her.
We actually have the ashes of the former owner’s son in our back field… he was born with a disability and died at age 25, and his wish was for his ashes to be buried in his guitar case on the land where he grew up. Doesn’t bother me one bit and we said “yes” immediately when they asked ❤
I like the idea of having a tree in the backyard that is literally given life by the same energy that made up a loved one, its beautiful when you think about it deeply for a moment.
This is exactly what I want to do! I'm still deciding between an October Glory or Autumn Blaze. But as of right now cremation is still my only option. It would be a dream come true to have Human Composting legal in Oklahoma. But only time will tell.
I want to be covered in poison oak. Then leak my GPS coordinates with a rumor that I'm buried with treasure. The joke is that there isn't any treasure, but there is a security camera to catch their disappointment and put it on ticktock.
There is a place in Oregon that does that with horses that you can visit. I’m happy to say that I was able to get my horse cremated without having her body disturbed.
The funny thing is that this is close to what happens inside a casket after a “normal” burial. Yet there is 0 issues or “poor grandma” with that process 🤷♀️
Not really, if you watch Caitlyin's video about caskets vs coffins, she talks about the difference and how in normal casket burial, they lower the casket into a concrete box and cover it with more concrete so that the body is never in contact with soil. That, all of the chemicals they pump into the body to make it look less...unalive.
@@paurey1691 There still is decay that occurs and no amount of chemicals can preserve the body indefinitely. I just find it interesting that an inevitable, natural process is so look down on, especially by people (in my experience) that tout “God’s perfect creation” for a number of other topics.
@@paurey1691 I’m guessing that some of the people that want their bodies preserved are of the Christian type that believe in the “rapture” and want to be ready. Others may want to look well preserved for the Zombie Apocalypse!
My own mother furiously resists talking about the possibility of me dying before her, and while I don't have any plans of doing so, it is distressing to imagine her wholly unprepared if it does happen. Caitlyn's videos have taught me so many things and I have now become the little weird death positivity member of the family.
I'm the same way! The deathling oddball! I have some family members who are unfortunately degrading in health, and death feels like it's about to pop up out of nowhere. I feel like I'm the only one knowledgeable in the death industry and how they can take advantage of the suffering. I wonder if I'd even have a voice in the matter, or just be shut down.
My father just died this morning, and thanks to your wonderful videos and information, he is having a green burial this weekend in a place he chose and paid for himself well ahead of time. It has made my life easier as I can't imagine trying to do all of this on my own while also trying to come to terms with his death. So thank you for what you do for people with these videos. You're appreciated more than you know. ❤
Condolences. I went through it years ago. Remember that your mourning is yours and there are no wrong or bad feelings. I hope his funeral and burial will be as he pictured it. His daughter is kick-ass enough to respect his wishes!
The thought of being allowed to become soil, of quietly coming apart and being un-made and becoming a natural part of the world around me- able to feed the plants, and house the worms, and be scurried across by mice and ants... it's so beautiful and perfect and meaningful to me that I am literally starting to cry just thinking about it. I don't want to be in a cold damp box. I don't want to be a puddle of dangerous chemicals. I don't want to be in an urn on a mantle, or a bunch of inorganic crumbles just floating on a lake where a loved one scattered me. I want to be a tree, I want to be a crop of tomatoes that nourishes someone, I want kids decades in the future to look for four leaf clovers where my remains once lay. Let me be dirt, conservatives. Give me this one choice about my body when you've taken so many others away.
THIS. I nearly cried with how beautiful the process was when Caitlin showed it in a previous video. I hope that, when I die, it will be an option available here in the UK
Felt that in my every being. Death terrifies me, so if I can actually "live forever" by my one body contributing to the ecosystem... I love it. I raise millipedes and isopods and I would love for those beautiful babies to much on me ❤️❤️
@@sexxxiipanda10 It's absolutely not living forever, not even in quotes. I always wonder why people apply that phrase to silly things like having their name remembered or the living works still be consumed after their death or whatever - none of that is going to help you, you won't experience any of it, you won't know it's happening and nothing during your life can possibly guarantee for you what will happen to you once you're gone, despite your best-laid plans. Nothing that /might/ happen after I stop existing gives me any comfort at all, I do not want to stop existing. As Woody Allen once said, "I don't want to live on in my work, I want to live on in my apartment!"
I can say is you made my mom's death sooo much easier. As soon as my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer I started sending her and my dad your videos lol. It's been a year after mom passed and my dad still talks about how much easier you made things for him.
Oh damn that’s awkward. I’m not sure if I’d want my daughter to start sending me videos from a mortician the moment I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer…maybe ease into it- have a conversation with me about it first lol. (FYI I’m slowly dying myself and this was written in a much more lighthearted manner that one may possibly infer, as tone is difficult to gauge in a text comment) I think it’s wonderful you and your family have found a way to make a bitter, uncomfortable situation a bit easier. Grateful for Caitlin and all the useful information she has shared on this channel. I’ve started the daunting task of planning for my own death, as I do not want it to be as easy as possible for my family when I finally kick the bucket. I hope your mom is resting easy, deeply sorry for your heartbreak. Losing a parent is so painful. Much love to you and your loved ones.
@@h0rriphic Disagree Wish i were American. Caitlin would be my go to lady. Brit aged 67. The older one gets the more we accept mortality and consider the matters around it.
Seeing Glen & Stu ALMOST realize that they think EVERYTHING about dealing with dead is "weird" BECAUSE they don't accept death was enlightening... I've wanted to be composted since I was a teen in the 1980's. I'm SOOOOOO excited this is finally happening. After I die, I'll get to turn into flowers! Yay!
I don't want to go back through the insanity of their quotes to find who said it and when, but one of them more or less sounds like he doesn't think he's going to die at all. Religious nuts... buncha youtubes.
indeed, pro creation and the last days are actively avoided, but that's because human brain is programed by nature for individual survival. It feels, like society it's all just go go go, till you cant go no more.
Reminds me of the video where they interview people in a VR game. they ask the players to share their craziest life stories. This one guy tells of how his mother had these 3 trees that she gave names to, and talked to them like they could hear her. The guy always thought it was weird, but went along with it for her. After the mom died, he learned he had 3 older siblings, all of whom were stillborn. It turned out those 3 trees were named after them. This was all his mother's way of grieving, and giving her one surviving child a relationship with the siblings he'd never meet.
My mother used to buy tomatoes, cucumbers and string beans from a woman who had a huge garden right on the edge of a cemetery. The whole town bought her produce, and the town joke was that her vegetables were so big and tasty because of the bodies nearby, some of whom died in the 1700's, so may not have been embalmed. Thank you for these videos, Caitlin. I love your sense of humor! I'd be happy to sign up to have my body become soil. I wouldn't mind coming back as a string bean!
@@kiwiprouddavids724 , Yes. Sadly, you're probably right. Visiting a family in the 1970's, living on the edge of Dachau, I asked them what they noticed coming from those stacks in 1943. His answer was, "As far back as the 1920's, there was always incineration going on over there. With all the other odors of roasting and smoking meat all over Bavaria, we didn't notice anything unusual." I believed him at the time - I mean, who could have imagined what was going on there?
My dad passed away just two weeks ago and your videos really help me through this tough time Caitlyn. He didn't want a lavish and expensive funeral with a polished coffin going into the soil, so he chose the literally cheapest box to get cremated in (we know it uses fossil fuels, he knew as well but it's what he always wanted). Since I talked to him about your channel a lot (before his diagnosis and gloomy prospects), he chose a tree grave, meaning his urne (made entirely out of wood) will be buried in a woodland cemetery in a forest close to where we live, like literally 15min away. The funeral is next week and although I'm crying non-stop, I am glad that we had talked about this topic while we still could. So hearing these doofuses say "I don't want to talk about that" just makes me think of their families and how much they'll struggle with making such decisions. Why would you do that to your loved ones?
I'm so sorry for your loss. It's good to know what your dad wanted. My mom wants a similar thing but without prior cremation. It sounds peaceful. You're so right, talking about it is important, even though it's sad. Wishing you strength.
I'm sorry for your loss! My childhood best friend passed a year ago and they were buried this way in a woodland cemetery. I went to see them for the first time just before the one year anniversary (different country) and it was very serene to be surrounded by nature and being able to hug their tree was comforting despite my tears.
If composting had been an option when my father died in 2001, he would have been ecstatic. He was born on a small farm in Wisconsin in 1918, and was a life -long enthusiastic gardener, even when his only available land was in containers on his apartment's balcony. As it was, he was happy that my husband and I had bought a house with a yard in time for his ashes to be mixed into our garden. Also, I will hear no complaints about the cut of your bangs: this length allows us to appreciate the glorious expressive mobility of your eyebrows!
Caitlin I am so grateful for your education about after death care. I told my husband I want to be composted and he was creeped out until I showed him your episode explaining it. I can’t wait for this to be legal where I live. To me it feels like a natural and peaceful way to “preserve” a corpse. The fact that it is environmentally friendly is a great bonus. Please continue to educate us in such a quarky enjoyable way. I can’t get enough of your documentaries
Composting is integral to a successful backyard garden! My great-grandparents, grandparents, and other family always composted back in the 60's and 70's, when I was a child, and most likely long before that. The idea of being composted sounds amazing to me. The circle of life!
As a wastewater worker myself, I do think it's funny them saying that they don't want to think about it. My job really isn't that dirty. It's not like I swim in wastewater. I mostly just work with pumps 🤷♀️
My class took a trip to the waste water treatment plant in my town once. It was really interesting! Your counterpart in my town had a vanity plate that said "poopman" which was epic.
it's just rank privilege and ignorance mixed with a good measure of dunning-kruger arrogance. why diss a job that is CRUCIAL to the functioning of modern society? some of these jobs they dissed are so important that just 1 or 2 days without those workers doing their work can collapse a city. these republicans are just the worst hypocrites.
I lived in the Chihuahuan desert for 13 years... I composted everything and grew personal relief bud. When my big male Ranch Dog Jefe died, I gave him a vulture funeral. Watching my primary ranch dog transition into the sky was amazing. It really helped with the grief, and there were no maggots, and no smell. After the birds were done I covered the bones with rocks.
Navajo's also don't bury their animals. They let nature take what it needs to help the living. I had befriended an abandoned dog on one trip who had been rescued from a wash where he fell or was thrown in. He ripped his nails and paws apart in his attempt to get out and 2 workers at the motel I stayed at rescued him. I bought treats and dog food as there were several other strays that got dumped there. We shared a few ice cream sandwiches before I left and sorry to say he got hit by a car the night before I planned to leave and I was heartbroken. I figured at least he had a couple days of love and affection and some good food. I wanted to bury him, but they explained that they do not bury animals, instead letting their bodies sustain other scavengers and the rest returns to the earth. Thank you for helping your dog continue the cycle of life.
I read about sky burial when I was a teenager and thought it was so wonderful that. I horrified my mom by saying that I thought that was wonderful and maybe I would want that 🤷♀️😹
Hey, I hope you're going through this as calmly as possible. Please remember to give yourself as much time as possible and try to take care of yourself, okay? I wish you all the best, genuinely. If you'd like a virtual hug, I'm sending one just in case
When my first horse Amber passed away I chose to have her composted. It comforts me to know that, in a way, she lives on in a flower or a tomato plant or wherever she ended up.
I think that's lovely. Absolutely lovely. I haven't done a lot in my life except consume, and I think that holds true for most of us. I think it would be lovely to give something back.... I absolutely want to be composted. I don't want to be cremated and I don't want to be chucked in a hole chock-full of chemicals.
I was discussing this a while back, and was told that using human compost would result in haunted gardens. They were totally serious. The thing is, I fail to see the downside. Think of all the money you'd save in pest repellent when the scarecrow starts walking around at night.
Don't people that believe in ghosts usually attribute to them to things like unfinished business or malice towards the living? If somebody _wants_ to be composted, it shouldn't conflict with their particular brand of nonsense at all.
You know there's dozens of grandmas out there whose flower gardens and veggie gardens are their pride and joy who saw composting themselves was an option and were immediately like "update my will!" someone was like "don't you think it's desrespectful?" "disrespectful? to become a thing of beauty? a joy forever? no. no I don't think it's disrespectful at all."
I ain’t a Grandma and I don’t have a flower garden (yet lol) but as someone who LOVES nature and beauty, (I know this bout to sound real corny but) I would be more than honoured if I in some way, shape or form, were to have contributed to the life of nature and beauty whether I’m here to see it or not lol
My parents both originally wanted (and I believe still want, within the unfortunately limited options available to us in the state of Dick Ham) to be cremated and then spread over their garden. My mom found out on her own about human composting the other week and was so stoked about it
Anything humans don't fully comprehend tends to scare us. It is weird to them because they fear it. Thank you for your work. I would choose to be composted over cremation or burial.
Exactly. And when people react angrily to new ideas regarding "body disposal" my mom would remind me, "anger is fear, or loss of control, of the unknown".
Unfortunately its not even that half the time. They just see California and New York (“liberal” states) as the enemy and start politicizing it JUST to cause division. They genuinely do not care they pander and spread misinformation for political and financial gain
In one of my college classes for public speaking. We were assigned to do a persuasive speech about anything we wanted. I ended up doing mine on human composting. I didnt realize how taboo it actually would be in the class. I definitely got some looks of criticism and some murmurs from the class, but thats totally ok. Surprisingly, my teacher loved it. I wanted to just say thank you for introducing me to this option since its now what I'd want to happen to my body. I got most of my information from your videos. So thank you for that A+ on my speech.
Yesterday I had surgery and decided to leave my husband a brief list of my wishes if I didn’t wake up. He was a bit freaked about it (not a deathling) but I explained we each had a parent die where others were not sure of all their wishes and I thought this way was better. It’s opened a conversation now and I think that’s positive.
It's so funny to me , these guys always use the "doing this horrible thing to grandma!" argument when they flat out said grandma would be happy to sacrifice herself to covid so these guys could keep going to bars and movies. Quite the expendable tool, is grandma.
That also wasn't an argument. Some arguments were the efficacy of masks (the people pushing them were inconsistent), whether or not the shot stopped transmission, the vax safety, and bodily autonomy. All valid arguments
I was excited when I heard about composting human remains. I told my husband that's what I want done to me. Why on earth anyone would rather have their boddy pumped full of chemicals, then buried in an expensive box, is beyond me. Cremation is also weird to me.
love the idea of composting! I imagine having gravewoods instead of graveyards, and everyone can do just a little landscaping around the tree of your loved one. You can hang little plaques on the tree that read, “Here grows grandma, 1953-2019.” For days visiting the grave tree, you can hang a fun little tire swing for kids to play on, or get everyone involved in planting a little flower at the foot of the tree. The scenery would be lovely for picnics to share with the passed family members. Or you can always just have a family centric tree, where family members always have their soil added so they mingle together in one family tree to visit annually. So many possibilities~
Oh I love the family tree! My uncle still owns the land that my great great grandpa bought when he came to America. The thought of a huge old oak growing on that farm fed by the soil of all of us and our loved ones, giving shade to our descendants. Gosh it's so beautiful. I'm a genealogist so I like the potential tongue in cheek of calling it "The Family Tree" as well. Gives me a good little chuckle 😂
My husband passed last May, he wanted to do this but we are in a state that it is not legal to. Transportation of a body across state lines is outrageously priced, I had to go with his second choice of cremation 😢 Thank you for tackling this important change.
Thats a shame tgat he wasnt able to go with his forst choicr. Hopefully its an option for more more people soon.. For what ists worts, i have seen some composters talking about havinv their s cremains/ashes added to a comlost pile, to be turned into soil. Ive also, i believe, heard soneone from recompose talk about how there eas an experiment where cremation ashes were added onto the composting process, without negatively affecting the ouycome, and about how ( iyhink maybe) cremated ashes could be added into a reconlose n. o. r process. So there's that. 🌱🌲🌳💚
The assertion from Beck that one wouldn't compost a horse shows that he is out of touch with "salt of the earth" farmers. I am glad you mentioned livestock composting, Caitlin. My shepherd friend also jokes from time to time to just stick her in the compost pile when she goes.
"they don't get it, but they support your decision to do it" Holy crap, if we could just get people to be that way for EVERYTHING!!!!! Think of how much of a better world we would live in.
I lost my mother suddenly a few months ago, and it really sensitized me to noticing how desperately people work at avoiding discussing death, from hiding it behind euphemism to seemingly pretending that the deceased has just stepped out for a second. Or how hollow the 'so sorry for your loss' rote response is, like, you're the customer service representative for the gas company, you don't have any idea who I am. You don't actually have to be sympathetic? I'm just changing the name on the account? Maybe I'm weird like that. I know my mom would have loved the composting idea, and if she'd had any choice in the matter, would have DEMANDED I bring the resulting mulch home to turn into the garden. Instead I had to stick her in a pot in a grass lawn fifteen miles from the house. I hope you can get this legalized for everyone.
We don't know each other at all and yet I still have empathy for the loss of your mother. I'm so sorry you experienced a sudden loss, as well. My mother has been gone for years now and I still miss her dreadfully. I understand you have your own point of view but it's perfectly possible for strangers to truly care about the death of a person in your life. In fact, for this stranger, it's impossible for me not to feel empathy for you.
Listening to their back and forth of sarcasm and 'but it's weird' my brain keeps going..."When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great circle of life." I know it's cartoon animals discussing this, but 5 year old me was able to grasp this concept, and it's always been a rather comforting description to me. Much better to become something new than being buried deep in an expensive wooden box.
@@Capohanf1 That's just how life works, and your body isn't literally transferred into the grass. The grass feeds on its nutrients. Kind of like how the antelope's poo isn't the same thing as the grass. The body takes the nutrients, and makes it something else. I think that's what most of these people against composting don't understand. Even eating fruit and whatnot that was grown with human composted soil does not mean you're eating a body. I understand that there's a "gross factor" to it because of social conditioning, but it doesn't change the facts. I mean, a lot of crops are fertilized with cow poo, chicken poo, etc but that doesn't mean we're eating livestock poo lol
I have been weirded out more than once by what I heard about funerals in the US. Having open caskets? Keeping your loved ones' ashes on the mantle?? Things they consider traditional like heavily embalming a body would be a "hell no" for me, but if you want to do it, sure go ahead. On the other hand I appreciate the thought of my body becoming worm food. That started when I was in school- we had to read a poem by Theodor Fontane, where a noble who always gives local children free pears asks to have a pear tree planted on his grave. The poem describes how, after the new pear tree has grown, children can hear a voice from the tree whispering to them, asking them if they want a pear. I thought it was amazing to have your legacy preserved in that way and I want the same for me eventually.
@@contra1124 There is a GREAT line in an ALL in the Family episode. Mike was talking to Archie about cremation and Archie said, "Knowing your mother in law, I would end up in the vaccum cleaner!"
The most frustrating thing about this misunderstanding is they keep dancing around " yeah it's wired but if they want to do it their choice." And "THERE NEEDS TO BE RESPECT FOR THE HUMAN BODY."
@@mysticmoth1111 naw, just conflicted. Bit of an assumption but conservatives lean to traditional Christian belief. Anything that destroys the body is taboo. Can't resurrect soil. But he seems to respect cremation so maybe they will learn.
@@nickdesanto6119 Conservatives want to remove all forms of bodily autonamy and force others to do as they say; the Christianity is a façade. Although it is true that conservative thinking leads to strong disgust reactions and pushing "unpleasant" thoughts away.
He uses the same tone like you murdered someone for composting. “Respecting the human body, cheapening human life” it’s issues while your living that effect that, not the way you dispose yourself after your dead
As someone who is mostly death positive but hasn’t really put too much thought into what i want done with my body when I die, watching your previous human composting video was an awakening moment of finally being able to describe exactly what i want for my remains.
That's how I would exactly describe myself to a T! The moment I watched the video for Human Composting was my definitive moment of "A-HA! THIS IS IT! THIS IS WHAT I WANT DONE FOR MY REMAINS!!". Cause before it was gonna be cremation. It might very well still be if the bill doesn't pass when it finally reaches Oklahoma 😟.
@@HeadNtheClouds the first results to pop up I see it's between $4,000 to $5,500. Which if you have Life Insurance should cover that nicely I think. Unless you decide to start saving up money towards it in the future. But I could be wrong, and the prices could vary from state to state.
after being directionless and scared for my future, your content has shown me a career path i am not only passionate about and want to do, but something i genuinely think i was put on this earth to do. so happy that human composting is becoming more accepted and i hope that it can happen in Canada, too! i know i’ll be right at the door of the Parliament when these requests are presented!
It’s legal in Saskatchewan and BC; last time I checked. Maybe more provinces now. I’m also pretty sure that you can be shipped to a province that will do it! Hi, from a non-crazy Albertan😊
I hope it becomes legal in Quebec! I would like to write a letter to a representative about it, but I don’t know at witch level I should aim (federal? provincial?) If you have any idea, please tell me!
My Grandpa passed away earlier this month. As a deathling, I wasn't bothered by interacting with his dead body. I patted his hand and placed a handmade lace heart I had tatted (an antique form of lace making) on his chest to be buried with him. It was important to me to give him one last handmade gift to be buried with. I thanked the funeral directors for their work; they had done an excellent job making him look like himself, like he used to before he got sick. My grandma got to kiss her husband of 64 years goodbye and my aunt's got to say goodbye to their father. The part of it all that I did find weird was the casket. It was shiny silverish grey metal with chrome accents, like a car. Absolutely massive. He's buried at a triple plot headstone where my uncle, his son, is already buried. My grandma will join them there when she passes. I think it's beautiful that they will all get to be together again. I just find the giant Mercedes-Benz like caskets odd. I had a conversation with my mom about human composting on our way to my aunt's house after the funeral. I told her about the laying in ceremony and everything. She seemed interested and open to the idea. It's definitely what I would want (hopefully a long, long time from now).
I was lucky enough to stumble into a state subcommittee meeting where a bill about this was being discussed. I didn't even know it existed, and I enthusiastically spoke up for public comment. Time was limited, and focus was elsewhere, so the only two arguments I heard against it were 1. Property disclosure and 2. A guy from the funeral industry mentioning that water cremation takes too much energy. This is an absolutely perfect video to show my friends and neighbors if I want to get their attention on the subject. And maybe, just maybe, if we can come to an understanding about the importance of making our own choices about death, we can come to an understanding about life. Wham! full circle.
My girlfriend was a big fan of you she watched every video of you when she could. She passed away August 31 2022 i am just thankful you put a smile on her face. ❤️ Thank you so much and keep the good job ❤️
I'm so sorry for your loss. My late boyfriend lost his battle with depression five years ago last month, I know all too well how much it hurts. I hope you're able to find comfort in the memories you created together. I know it's hard now, but it does get easier with time. Love from an internet stranger 🖤
You all. Invest 120 mins maximum and check out Lee Strobel. Hardcore atheist dragged by legit evidence of Jesus Christ, Risen from the dead. Worship Life and Our God. People hurt you. Not God.
I first started frequently watching this channel when I was severely ill and looking at a very real possibility of not being on this earth for much longer. I’m blessed that I did get better, but I’m really grateful I took the time to figure all of this out so young- that way whenever something does happen, my loved ones have a plan. So many people in my life have that same attitude of ‘I don’t want to think about it.’ But even if you choose not to think about it, that doesn’t make death go away. It’s so important to be prepared, regardless of your health or medical situation.
This debate mostly comes from their initial proclamations of not wanting to think about death or what happens after. Your channel helped me prepare for the eventuality of my father's death. Leading up to it, I made my sister, and my dad, make decisions about what to do after his passing. I made them confirm his burial plans, confirm what could done with his headstone, confirm my mother's ashes could go in the casket with him and that her name could be listed on the headstone with his. When he passed, those preparations made that part so much less of a hassle. It doesn't cheapen human life. I love my dad. I miss him everyday. I do not regret making him those conversations about what to do when he passed.
Because of the fiasco of my Grandfather's death wishes (he wanted to be a whole body donation to a medical school and ended up being buried), My Mum and Dad set out their wishes with me well before their deaths - they were both to be cremated and My Mum's ashes were split between her parents and her son and My Dad's are eventually going to be placed in a firework display (one giant chrysanthymum blossom rocket). He loved the idea when I proposed it to him. I want to either donate my organs and skin or a whole body donation to a medical school. I don't care what happens after that, but I hope by the time I die, composting/aquamation is common.
Love the idea of composting. It feels gentle and natural. Cremation is a little intense for me. Embalming feels goulish Someone else may have completely different feelings... which is why it's important people have options
I absolutely agree. I don't like composting notionally for my loved ones at all, really given the gruesomeness involved in everything, I lean towards cremation, but I'm as happy as anyone should be, that the option is there.
I personally LOVE the idea of becoming soil. Always loved it. And since I discovered your channel some years ago, I've gotten really interested in water cremation as well. I am out here in Denmark yelling "COMPOST MY BODY PLEASE (when I die, that is, let's not be crazy)"
While motorbiking through Vietnam (old Top Gear style) I saw many Vietnamese graveyards. The plots would often have a family shine containing the bones of ancestors, and an above ground crypt where a body would be placed inside and covered with large gravel. This allowed air, bacteria and insects to breakdown the soft tissue leaving just bones that would then be placed in a bag and added to the family shrine.
This is wonderful. Thanks for the video and your advocacy. I live in the West of Ireland....every day the community radio station reads out the announcements of who in the district has died and where their body will repose until the funeral. An open casket, usually in the front living room, where family and friends still stay up all night with the corpse of their loved ones and go through traditional catharsis and celebration of life and death in a "wake" with much food and drink and stories. Familiarity with the process of death has never left here and I feel it is a healthy way to look at our human existence. I would love to be a tree , compost me, say I, and let the bats in my belfry from my mortal life be birds in my branches in the hereafter :) Love from an Aussie in Ireland.
Always loved the idea of a traditional Irish wake. I wonder if my Irish immigrant ancestors did that back in the late 1800s or if funeral homes had already become the norm here in the US by that time.
Thank you so much for your content. I'm a pastor and have walked with many families through the funeral process and although I have loved so many of the funeral directors I have worked with I have also struggled with the larger funeral industry, especially when it comes to families who cannot afford to use a funeral home and carry a shame around that. And so a deep thank you for all your work around death positivity and alternative options.
Please answer two simple multiple choice questions: In the context of what Paul wrote: 1) Who would most likely kill Jesus just for looking like, and believed to be just a human as related in the Kenosis Hymnal in Philippians? In other words who would find it a crime just for looking like, and believed to be human that's punishable by death? Philippians 2:7-8 NRSV "but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross." YLT "but did empty himself, the form of a servant having taken, in the likeness of men having been made, and in fashion having been found as a man, he humbled himself, having become obedient unto death -- death even of a cross," A) Romans B) Jews C) Romans & Jews D) Satan In the context of what Paul wrote: 2) Who would most likely not kill Jesus if was made known to them (without a doubt) that killing Jesus would fulfill God's preordained secret plan for mankinds salvation as per God's will? In other words who would be against eternal life for humans in that they would not follow through in killing Jesus because it would give said humans a chance at immortality? Note: Rulers of this Age (Principalities); Rulers of the Earth realm is interchangeable with rulers of the spiritual realm to the ancient reader. 1 Corinthians 2:6-8 NRSV "Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." YLT "And wisdom we speak among the perfect, and wisdom not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age -- of those becoming useless, but we speak the hidden wisdom of God in a secret, that God foreordained before the ages to our glory, which no one of the rulers of this age did know, for if they had known, the Lord of the glory they would not have crucified;" A) Romans B) Jews C) Romans & Jews D) Satan
@@bleirdo_dude strangers on the internet don’t owe you quiz answers. Go talk to a local pastor. Maybe make a donation to the church as a thank you for his/her time. 🙄
@@dewilew2137 Drug addictions, and thought addictions are closely related on a neurological level. Some people are more beholden to the ancient part of the brain (Meso Limbic System/emotional) rather than someone that reasons using the modern part (Frontal Cortex/rational). Imagine the euphoria experienced by the average person for believing they won a million dollars on a scratch off ticket (it could be a joke ticket yet as long as they believe). Now imagine someone having the same sensations, but being convinced it's a paranormal contact for believing John 3:16. We evolved to seek pleasure (eating/reproduction), and avoid getting killed (tiger in the grass/competing neighbor/harsh enviroment). With our increased cognitive abilities we made up other reasons for pleasure, and survival beyond basic necessity. The Dopamine Reward System over time bridges gaps in pathways in order to form habits in order to repeat behaviors, and or thoughts. The often cited testimony of getting off an addiction thanks to a God is just a placebo replacement due to the power of the mind (an AA participant I heard of chose to worship the radiator in his room instead of an higher power, and became sober). "The second system, known as the mesolimbic system, has its cell bodies in the ventral tegmental area, which is medial to the substantia nigra. It projects to several parts of the limbic system, including the nucleus accumbens and ventral portions of the striatum, amygdala, and hippocampus, as well as prefrontal cortex. This system has been linked to reward-related behavior (Berridge and Kringelbach, 2015). Dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens increase in response to both natural reinforcers (such as food, drink, and sex) and drugs of abuse (such as amphetamine and cocaine). Additionally, in humans, activity in this region increases in response to more abstract rewards, such as money." Marie T. Banich/Rebecca J. Compton, Cognitive Neuroscience, Section: Subsystems, pp. 2/3 "Dopamine, in fact, is critical in association learning and the reward system of the brain that Skinner discovered through his process of operant conditioning, whereby any behavior that is reinforced tends to be repeated. A reinforcement is, by definition, something that is rewarding to the organism; that is to say, it makes the brain direct the body to repeat the behavior in order to get another positive reward. ...The connection between dopamine and belief was established by experiments conducted by Peter Brugger and his colleague Christine Mohr at the University of Bristol in England. Exploring the neurochemistry of superstition, magical thinking, and belief in the paranormal, Brugger and Mohr found that people with high levels of dopamine are more likely to find significance in coincidences and pick out meaning and patterns where there are none." Michael Shermer, The Believing Brain, Section: 6 The Believing Neuron pp. 8-10/29 "Genetic and behavioral factors influencing religiously motivated behavior appear related to dopamine metabolism and signaling. Inclination toward religious behavior and motivation has been associated with a polymorphism on the dopamine receptor gene DRD4 (Comings, Gonzales, Saucier, Johnson, & MacMurray, 2000;Sasaki et al., 2013). Acquired disorders of dopamine physiology also show links to religious behaviors." ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5478470/ "Religious and spiritual experiences activate the brain reward circuits in much the same way as love, sex, gambling, drugs and music, report researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine." unews.utah.edu/this-is-your-brain-on-god/ "Dopamine, adrenaline, and noradrenaline are neurotransmitters that belong to the catecholamine family. Dopamine is produced in the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental regions of the brain, and dopamine alterations are related to schizophrenia (1, 2). ...The “original dopamine hypothesis” states that hyperactive dopamine transmission results in schizophrenic symptoms." ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4032934/ "Dopamine In schizophrenia (SCZ), there is evidence that very high levels of dopamine in the limbic system play a major role in emergence of hallucinations and delusions. Antipsychotic medications, which block central dopamine activity, alleviate the hallucinations of psychosis. Drugs with strong dopaminergic effect, such as L-dopa, methylphenidate, bromocriptine, pramipexole and piribedil, may induce hallucinations. D-amphetamine, a direct dopamine agonist, may also induce psychosis and hallucinations." ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2996210/ "Here, we show that administration of a drug that enhances dopaminergic function (dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine; L-DOPA) increases an optimism bias. This effect is due to L-DOPA impairing the ability to update belief in response to undesirable information about the future." ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3424419/ Tibetan mystics have long practiced a method to create so called sentient beings (Tulpas) from the power of concentrated thought. Note: These Tulpas are not sentient beings, but a manifestation of the subconscious mind through neural plasticity via neurochemical imbalancing inducing meditation. In other words it's having a dream state while awake, and interacting with a character that's made up of one's own preformed thoughts (building blocks of ideas/concepts that are below conscious awareness) which gives the illusion of sentience. In simpler words it's self induced schizophrenia due to stresses (psychological/physical/environmental) where neurochemical traffic gets rerouted causing hallucinations to any of the five senses, also including involuntary movement, and distorted speech (glossolalia). Ancient people did not know the neurosciences. Philo of Alexandria thought that joy came from Heaven by way of God's chief archangel the "Divine Word/Right Reason (Logos)". ON DREAMS, THAT THEY ARE GOD-SENT Book 2 "XXXVII ...And who can pour over the happy soul which proffers its own reason as the most sacred cup, the holy goblets of true joy, except the cup-bearer of God, the master of the feast, the Word?" ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION, III "LX ...the soul very often, when it is delighted, is yet unable to explain what it is that has delighted it; but it is taught by the hierophant and prophet Moses, who tells it, “This is the bread, the food which God has given for the Soul, (Exo. 16:15)” explaining that God has brought it, his own Word and his own Reason; for this bread which he has given us to eat is this Word of his." The High Priest's headdress had a crown made of a plant known for it's hallucinogenic properties at which a golden plate covered the forehead. On said golden plate was inscribed sacred characters for the name of God. Josephus: THE ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS, BOOK 3, CHAPTER 7 (172-178), CONCERNING THE GARMENTS ...OF THE HIGH PRIEST "6. The high priest's mitre was the same that we described before, and was wrought like that of all the other priests; above which there was another, with swathes of blue embroidered, and round it was a golden crown polished, of three rows, one above another; out of which arose a cup of gold, which resembled the herb which we call Saccharus: but those Greeks that are skilful in botany call it Hyoscyamus. ...Now the fruit is preserved by this coat of the calyx, which fruit is like the seed of the herb Sideritis: it sends out a flower that may seem to resemble that of poppy. Of this was a crown made, as far as from the hinder part of the head to each of the temples; but this Ephielis, for so this calyx may be called, did not cover the forehead, but it was covered with a golden plate, which had inscribed upon it the name of God in sacred characters. And such were the ornaments of the high priest." Hyoscyamus Niger " ...was historically used..., as well as for its psychoactive properties in "magic brews". These psychoactive properties include visual hallucinations and a sensation of flight. ...The plant, recorded as Herba Apollinaris, was used to yield oracles by the priestesses of Apollo." wiki/Hyoscyamus_niger Scrambled neurochemistry is insight to another realm for some people. The Holy Dopamine Ghost (Thoughts are addictive) playlist?list=PLQATeZAnm87BaJjBtM1vMIq_gHRmBq3ie Scripture is designed to keep people in the thought addiction, and shut out from the group those that question. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." (Prov. 1:7) "In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." "but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed." (2 Cor. 4:4, 3:16) "As for the Disbelievers, Whether thou warn them or thou warn them not it is all one for them; they believe not. Allah hath sealed their hearing and their hearts, and on their eyes there is a covering. Theirs will be an awful doom." (Quran 2.006-.007) "Fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good." (Psa. 14:1) "but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Dopamine Ghost can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin" (Mark 3:29)
Well then you need a living will if she’s unable or unwilling to do that. You’re not helping trying to force to to face something that obviously terrifies her, so on the off chance you stop breathing before she does then you need to have some paperwork in place and leave it at planning for her death because you’re more comfortable discussing the subject of deathz
My mother passed on January 23, 2023, in California. The mortician discussed various options, including water cremation. When she mentioned that option, I felt like cheering. Victory for Caitlin and the Order of the Good Death!!! However, she did not mention composting. Was it legal in CA on that date? BTW my sister and I decided on cremation with Mom's cremains incorporated into glass making and hand blown into a lovely piece of art. Thank you, Caitlin, for all the hard work you've done to create and support for alternatives to Big Funeral.
Your idea of creating a piece of art sounds lovely. As far as the legislation in California, my understanding is that while the legislation passed to approve it there in late 2022, the law doesn't go into effect until 2027. I'm not sure why.
Watching your videos always reminds me of something my dad, a forty year licensed physician, once told me. "We spend billions of dollars in this country, needlessly, every year because we refuse to accept that death is the inevitability of life." Hopefully I still have many many decades ahead of me, the idea of helping to continue the circle of life sounds pretty appealing to me.
The thought of my body becoming a cute garden for tortoises with fresh tomatoes makes me feel so happy. If you see the leaves shake, it's my spirit dancing.
I just wanted to say thank you. After years of watching, my Dad and I had a great talk about his death plan. A couple of weeks ago, we had a peaceful natural burial with my father in a shroud, not embalming, and it was beautiful. ❤
They said exactly what I wanted to point out. Name ONE method of getting rid of a body (cremation, natural burial ect.) that can not be described in a disgusted way. You can easily demonize every option if you want. 🤷🏼♀️ If I can donate my organs to save someone's life and then become a compost to help forrest grow that's the great way to go in my humble opinion. I wish composting option will be avalible in Poland, before my time arrive and I'll be able to become a part of the forrest. ❤
I've been watching this channel for years now, and I can say it has allowed me to build a way healthier relationship with death, even though I'm incredibly afraid of loss. The idea of composting, returning to the Earth and that our loved one became one with it again is very comforting in some way. So happy and proud of what you have managed to achieve. I'm writing a paper on it for my environmental law course, I really hope to see it legalized in my country one day.
The fear of loss is the one issue with death that I have not been able to fully embrace. I have no fear of my own mortality, but the thought of losing my loved ones hits me hard. I am slowly talking to them about their death plans, so that I can at least do what is right by them, and honour their spirits should them go first. I am with you that composting just seems a very comforting idea, and hope to see it become legal in the UK in my lifetime
I showed my mom the original video about composting and she wants to do that too! she's also super paranoid about being buried alive and this is an excellent way to make sure that doesn't happen!
I don't get them being upset about gardens made from human compost. I love the idea for myself. I told my friends (who all have green thumbs) that I want my body to be composted, and I want the compost used in a sort of memorial garden. I'm compiling a list of my favorite flowers and fruits/veggies to be grown with my compost. It seems beautiful to me. A living memorial to me, one which gives back to my best friends who are pretty much my family at this point. My family hates the idea, and they think that they should get to decide what happens to my body, and even if I get composted, they think they should get to decide who gets compost and who doesn't. Which is why it's important to me to get my will done up as soon as possible even though I'm only 19. All this to say, I personally think it's a beautiful process, and I'm glad I'll get the choice.
Different cultures all over the world have different views on death and the final disposal of the deceased. To insinuate that the guys in the video are somehow wrong for their cultural views on death sounds like bigotry. Do better.
It’s beautiful to become soil. For many years I’ve dreamed of a sky burial, composting is a legal way to be returned to the life cycle. Thank you for your educational content
I was so happy to hear when human composting got legalized in California. Thank you for being a part of the movement! It finally gives me something to do with my body when I die. My family doesn't typically have funerals, so the whole process is very foreign. We usually just cremate, but that's because there's nothing else to do with it and we don't bury our dead. We feel like its cruel to your living relatives to bury yourself because then you kind of still exist somewhere and it tethers the living relatives to the spot, rather than letting them feel free to leave and go where is best for them. Both physically and mentally.
That's a really interesting perspective! Is that a cultural belief, or religious? Or just how your individual family views it? I haven't really heard that idea before, so I'm curious.
@@whateverlolawants just a personal family belief, but I believe it came from the side of the family that was nomadic and Norwegian decent. I think it's funny, but my grandma always says, "make sure you burn my body. I don't want the worms to eat me." And I think the ashes are typically scattered in the place they would "find peace". But there are no headstones or recorded locations of the ashes. My mom told me when I was little that we should let the dead go when they die and we celebrate the life that's still here, because the dead are already celebrating. It's kind of a mish mash between nordic tradition, christianity, and traveling gypsies.
For someone who is terrified of dying (trust me, my therapist pointed it out to me and BOY DID I SPIRAL) and other people dying, I can't seem to stay away form your videos xD Thanks for always being so informative and clear cut
While I'm not terrified, I definitely don't want to go. What might make you feel less stressed, is to take some control. You can't choose when/how/where you're going to meet your end, but you could certainly write out your wishes. (When I finally breathe my last, at the age of 120....") I'm thinking of doing this myself. Write out how you feel about your friends, family, and loved ones. Write how you prefer your remains to be handled. Write whether or not you'll donate your organs. Write who you want to have the things that matter to you. Write how you want your memorial to look--somber funeral, remembrance party, religious home-going, etc. Write down bits of advice to leave behind. You might even make a video. Put all these things in a box, and let your power of attorney know where to find it. I'd also make a bucket list. It doesn't have to be crazy stuff--like running with the bulls. Make it a list of things you hope to accomplish--so you can start working harder to get there. (Buy a house, finish my degree, get a dog, visit Europe.)The thing that scares me most about death, is leaving so much unfinished. I don't want to leave in the middle of the good stuff, and I don't want to be forgotten. Name your fear, face it down, and you'll discover it's not so tough.
Why is it these people always take novel approaches in bad faith and actively go out of their way to be as surface-level as possible and, well, obnoxious about it all? You can hear the disdain in their voices. Also, that "what a wonderful way to go!" reeks of death denial and insecurity. Oh, and I just have to say I've been watching your channel for possibly 6 years now. Glad to see you're almost at 2 million subscribers.
Like what do they think happens when you are buried? Do they really not know you decompose? I can't imagine someone being this weird and uncomfortable about the well-known fact that dead things rot and turn to soil. They really are going out of their way to be as surface level as possible
It was so infuriating listening to them talking about it that way 😤! I'm very happy for the people living there finally having the legal option to compost themselves after death. I can only pray it'll be the same result in Oklahoma one day 😟🙏.
As a New York resident, I thank you for your help! I am only 56, and don't plan to use the service for a very long time, but it is good to know that my family won't have to drag my carcass over the border to Vermont!
l'm an organ donor, so my inner utilitarian loves the idea of my useful bits being given to those that need them and the rest being used to plant a flower bed or a sapling. Honestly, the idea of me sitting in a casket pumped full of preservatives forever and ever creeps me out a whole lot more than being gently retaken by the Earth. So thank you, Caitlyn, for doing so much work to legalize human composting.
thats what i'm thinking. strip my body for parts when i'm done, and plant a tree over me. srart a haunted forest.. i mean, preserved nature land *coughs*
I agree. I am hoping to get "Aqua-mated" when my time comes. Caitlyn is wonderful. I have learned so much from her videos. I greatly appreciate her efforts to make funeral arrangements a "little less scary" to contemplate...and a lot less expensive to pay for. We lost my in-laws two years apart. Their cultural tradition "requires" Embalmed/Rosary/Visitation/Bury in ground, pretty Headstone. Unfortunately, most of those who want these elaborate burials can't afford to pay for them, nor can afford to prepay for them. That was our in-laws' situation. They had no money. The family members...meaning US...had to get loans in order to come up with our portion of the 14K for each burial. You can't finance an elaborate burial thru the cemetery we had to use, either. So much for Christian charity. Pay all at once...or let 'em rot!
Same here - I've been on the organ donor list ever since my teens, when I lost a favourite uncle while he was waiting on the transplant list for a new liver. If some part of me can save the lives of anyone else, they're welcome to any bits they want. Though I recommend against the eyes and lungs - the eyes were defective to start with, and have only gone downhill with time, and Covid did a number on the lungs 3 yrs back. If they can use any of the rest, have at it! Just either compost whatever's left over, or bury it naturally, and maybe plant some lilacs on top. I like lilacs.
Do…do they not know how decomposition works?? This is literally just a sped up ground burial except you get returned when you’re done turning into soil. Literally do this to me. Graveyards legit freak me out because I do not want to end up in one, forgotten, alone, and unable to decompose. Throw me into the woods and feed me to the trees
This is what I want done after my death. I have always had this irrational fear of being alive when buried or cremated. So being put in a warm tube with some grass and wood chips is a great option. Also I have had my living will, including death plan set up since I was around 25. Too many times have I seen family and friends stress out over what to do and costs of a funeral. Or even just what and who to do readings or what music. Just made sense. I actually just had to update it recently now that my child is no longer a minor.
I am starting my first job at a funeral home next week. Almost through with college. I can’t wait to get into Eco burial. You have truly inspired me since I was in middle school. I can’t wait to make a difference in the death industry. - from a nervous 22 yr old just trying to make it.
I just wanted to comment to thank you for your videos. My dad had been so ill for so long and I started watching your videos to understand death and what happens after better to be more prepared. Because of you we were able to give my dad the death he wanted on 1/17, at home with his family, dogs, fav music playing. A beautiful death. Thank you for helping to destigmatize death and the process after. You're a beautiful soul.
i am so sorry for your loss. But at the same time, I am happy your father had a good death and that you were able to make that happen for him. I wish you all the best
All this talk about composting grandma made me want to thank you. My grandma died in our home a couple weeks ago, surrounded by family. The whole process was made much easier for me because of your videos. Thank you for all that you do ❤️
Caitlin I absolutely love your vids. I've been death positive for awhile but finding your videos has really increased my knowledge of different processes and normalizing talking about it. Thank you for all you do! :)
Thank you so much for fighting for this! My very death-averse sister actually told me the other day that she wants a green burial when she dies, and that's a big thing for her to be able to say!
As a New Yorker, I am extremely excited that the composting bill passed. If I can’t have a Viking funeral and become fish food, I would like to become plant food. It’s literally exactly what you said, if it’s not for you fine, but don’t tell me what’s not ok for me to do!
I'm eagerly awaiting the hearing of this legislation in Texas. As a disabled woman in Texas who lives with the fact that my husband has more rights over what happens to my living body than I do, I really want to be composted when I die. So does my husband. You definitely have support in the population of Texas. I'm glad you're ready for a fight. I'm in a republican controlled area, so bothering my reps will do nothing. I'm stuck with two of the worst big names. Louie Goumert and Ted Cruz. I've written them so many times about different issues that they just send me the auto reply emails now. I sincerely hope you can get this passed. Best of Luck!!! ^_^
I do know there's a place in Texas that does water cremation if that helps? My husband and I were looking into it. His request is to simply throw him in the woods and raise a glass..... I'm trying to work out how to do that legally.
I don’t think bothering your reps is ever useless. Just because you’re getting an auto reply doesn’t mean they aren’t, listening, but quantity is more important than quality when it comes to constituents bothering their reps. Also, I strongly believe this is a non partisan issue. The people who I’ve heard advocate most strongly for human composting (not using those terms) have been republicans. Farmers / ranchers compost livestock all the time, and say they want the same done to them. I hope they can have their wish. Just think, spreading a farmer over his favorite, most beautiful field. Nourishing the ground he worked so hard on. Genuinely brings a tear to the eye.
Texan gal here too! I totally agree and feel your pain. I love the idea of being returned to the earth in this way and having my body contribute to an environment that benefited me my entire life. I hope we both get the right to choose to 💕
@@juanitadaniels7511, I looked into Texas laws about burying your deceased relatives on your own land. It is legal but I don’t remember the guidelines that must be followed. It isn’t as restrictive as I thought it would be.
Thank you for your work in legalizing composting. I don’t plan on passing away anytime soon, but I am a NYer and want to go back to the earth when it’s time
Hey! Just thought I’d say, I’m going into the funeral industry because of you :) I’ve been watching your content since I was what…13, and you were so inspiring to me that since then, it’s been my career of choice! I’m now 19 and am planning to become a crematorium technician as soon as I’m able to. I don’t know if you’ll read this, I know you’ve got a lot on your plate, but thank you. Thank you for being such an inspiration, because of you I want to try and make a difference in the funeral industry :D
Heeeey! She's one of my "inspirations" as well! Haha, her vids have been such a help! I've even got a couple books too :) My choice is solidified- And I've known that since I was 5-ish years old! Persevere- Good luuuuck!
My Mom brought my sister and me to our family cemetery every year. We knew what was in that ground at the New Jersey cemetery from a young age. Also, grandma had what she considered a Jewish burial and what Caitlin would call a natural burial (just a shroud and a 100% wooden casket.) Caitlin would be so proud. ❤
@@frankiefranklin9761 aww. Although my parents haven’t written exact specific death plans, I’m 99% sure that Mom wants a Jewish burial and Dad wants literally anything as long as it’s next to Mom.
I also planned on this but then was convinced to donate my brain to Harvard for neuro studies & body for "parts" ‐ I've asked that my leftovers are composted however. XO
@@rowandoyle7 It’s also great that my family lives in a state where composting is now legal so we have yet another option available to us. Good luck to everybody in all the other states! ❤
As a pagan, the idea of contributing towards nature, legally (I was going to do something like this, regardless), really makes me feel a lot better. My wife and I have been talking about this stuff when the inevitable happens, and she showed me human composting because she knows me well enough to know I'd love it
@@artificialhumanist Religious freedom is finally coming to the country where it's always been a major, well-espoused, legal right.... on paper. Get used to it. Also next time list some of those hypothetical things people should be "informed" about, before writing a mini-essay about nothing, m'lord.
@@artificialhumanist the constitution calls my people savages and forced us to conform to Christian beliefs. At one point it was illegal to practice our culture and speak our language. Funny how Christians think the narrative “freedom of religion” was actually practiced. It’s just sad how many disgusting Christian abusers didn’t face any repercussions for what they did in those boarding schools. I’m glad I’m the second generation to not go to these boarding schools but they have my older family brainwashed. I tell my religious family that I’m walking the red road. I’m decolonizing and practicing the spirituality of our ancestors rather than one that was forced and beaten into my elders. My culture is very matriarchal so it doesn’t make sense to cater to white patriarchy but it happens a lot
@@artificialhumanist didn’t read anything you said since it will be no help to me. I’ve been told by people of your faith that preserving my culture won’t get me in heaven. I’ve heard enough of what Christians have to say unwillingly because I was forced to attend church. It’s not my thing and I have my own spirituality that makes me feel closer to my ancestors. But you should know the constitution was made for white men. White men benefited from the slavery of black people and killing/ raping and taking land from natives. That’s messed up and there’s been no real repercussions
This is wonderful. I love the idea of becoming part of our ecosystem. That said, I will be donating my body to science, specifically the Osteopathic School in West Virginia. Being an only child with no children of my own, I decided on this route so as not to burden anyone. Also, it's free. I couldn't be a doctor this life, so I hope my body will help someone become a doctor in the next.
@Princesspuffer - I've read that when a medical school is finished with a donated body, it is cremated and returned to the family. Is this what the Osteopathic School does?
@@MossyMozart my uncle donated his body to the Anatomical Society. We requested he be buried at sea. We could have requested cremation but that's not what he wanted
Careful about that. A grandmother donated her body to "science" and the science used her as a crash test dummy. Her family was horrified when they found out. But it was her final wish.
@@sboz86 A very good point, make sure you discuss with potential recipient organisations exactly what purposes your body may be used for, if there are things with which you are uncomfortable, then look to alternative recipients.
About a month before my mom died she started talking about what she wanted for her burial (she had always been against any talk of death, funerals... we should have known) She wanted to be buried under a tree, no coffin, just allowed to become part of the soil. This was over 20 years ago, so that wasn't an option at the time. This makes me happy that people have more options and rights with what happens with their body after death now.
"I don't want to think about it" is exactly what makes a nightmare mess for your loved ones when you pass.
My grandfather, bless'im, was given six months to live and didn't make his will until two weeks before his death. That'd be bad enough if he didn't have a lot, but he had over a million dollars in assets, savings, etc. that he hadn't made any plans for because [???]
Also for people who "don't wanna think about it" they sure talked about it for a while
I told my mom, if I go first, just tie a brick to my foot and bury me at sea. I'll be dead, I don't care, lol. Actually, I want my body donated to science. No big ceremony, I want a party where people tell stupid stories and laugh at me.
Honestly thank goodness my mom told my sister and I, once we were adults, what she wanted us to do with her body when she died. She has a will and went through it with my sister and I so there wouldn’t be any surprises. She told us what things she wanted us to have and made sure we understood her wishes. My mom was also an elder care social worker before she retired so the business of dying was part of her job. I think that’s a big part of why she was so open in talking about her plans with us. It wasn’t a happy topic but she did it anyway.
the only thing I know my dad wants is to hold up traffic as much as possible. He said, "I don't care if you have to pay people $20 a pop as they leave the cemetery, I want the longest train possible from the church to the cemetery."
I love how he sarcastically said “that’s how you can live on, Glen. You can become part of the soil and grow new plants,” as if that’s NOT how bodies have been breaking down since bodies existed.
"Good for you, Glen. Being fed off by microscopic organisms who will then nurture the ecosystem. What a wonderful way to provide for the planet once you're dead >:((". What does he think corpses do? Turn into plastic?
Well, if they’re stuck in a casket, they are basically turning into chemically tainted organic soup that just festers in there doing no good to anything until the casket itself finally cracks. That’s so much more comforting. 🙄
@@kellyalves756 Exactly! Cultural differences I suppose but the idea of being buried in a sealed box stresses me out (I know dead me wouldn't care but I'd much rather be composted).
do they... do they understand how the circle of life works?
@@kellyalves756 as some who wants to be plant food when I die, being embalmed soup sludge in a sealed casket is what's truly horrifying to me
"even their bones will be put in there" I'm glad he cleared this up for me. I thought I was going to have to de-bone and filet my bodies before I threw them on the pile.
I know, I was like, what are we supposed to do with our bones then???? 🤣
😂😂😂
@@Chattepliee Nutritious bone broth! And don't gardens need calcium? Maybe add it to bird feed during nesting season for eggshell security! Actually, that's a good idea... #vegan
Hahaha omg thank you for saying this 🤣 ugh I’ll never understand how some minds work and how some just don’t.
I'd save bones for my collection, I mean, collection of bones, I mean, the bones I gather to preserve, I mean...
They're, completely forgetting that burying something is basically the same as composting. I was a gardener in a grave yard for a while. Some of the most amazing plants and flowers can grow if you just let them. The amount of orchids that just grow naturally on top of graves is amazing.
Gardening for a grave yard sounds like such a lovely job.
Awww that's so beautiful! 💖
That’s beautiful, orchids are lovely
That’s exactly what I was thinking.. being buried is almost the same thing but just takes longer!
Watching them ping pong back and forth from “humans are super special and their dead bodies must be ceremonially held in reverence forever” to “what am I gonna do with a pillow when I’m dead? Just shove me in a box, who cares I’m just a corpse” gave me whiplash
Whatever causes outrage and clicks, Fox News (and CNN) will do.
@@theturtwig50 11:30 I think about that tic tok chica, that accidently used gorilla glue on her hair- these kids super glueing their hand to a Starbucks countertop over oatmilk, they have not struggled *enough*
Yep. I mean, I don't personally see much value in inherent respect of human bodies - I see it as a bodily autonomy issue. Once the person's dead, it's no one else's business what they want done with the corpse, as long as it doesn't harm anyone else. A dead body only needs respect in the sense that what the person requested be done with their body is done. I don't see the human body as having any inherent value, it's simply the vessel someone's mind and soul inhabited, and once that inhabitant is gone, the corpse holds no special significance. Obviously respect what the person wanted, but it's not like a human corpse has some metaphysical value an animal corpse does not. Personally, I don’t really care what happens to my body once I'm no longer using it, just as long as my loved ones don't waste money on the funeral on things a corpse doesn't actually need.
Old straight white men are a curse on this world
@@theturtwig50 - Actually, Glenn Beck started his own network some years ago, "The Blaze". I have never watched him, but I would not be surprized if he were still an LDS conservative.
Just so you know, my dad announced at Christmas Eve dinner that his burial plans had changed to composting. Previously we were to cremate him and sprinkle his ashes on the tomatoes. My dad (a devout Catholic, I will note), said he didn't want the carbon footprint of cremation given composting as an alternative. I think he also might have said that to freak out my father in law. My sister told him that it might be easier to go the machete and garden composter route. My mother in law is a gardener and enjoyed this conversation. Is my dad a deathling? Is he reading this comment right now? Who knows!!
The compost heap should grow flowers, and the flowers should go to the vegetable garden. I have no objection to some girl getting married over my dead body. There's something on this in Heinlein's The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.
Your dad has made a beautiful decision. ❤
@@aaronfreeman5264 I have to figure out if the tomatoes are still in play or what.
@@originalcosmicgirl Yeah, he'll make a good patch of garden- but hopefully not for many many years.
I've heard that a lot of people who work in gardens and farming are interested in composting. It makes perfect sense.
When I was a kid I thought everyone who was buried turned into soil and helped plants grow, and it was comforting to me. I’m so thankful that that’s becoming a more accessible option!
I am the exact same! And I was horrified as a child when the adults told me "oh no, the insects won't be able to get to you through your coffin", like, how will I get eaten and be useful to the circle of life then?? Just let me be eaten by something damn.
@@sillygoldfish2099 Leave it to humans to break the Circle of Life
Wholesome 💓
Same
I hurt my back and had some medical stuff go Rong it made me think of my death . I'm a horticulturist and I love NZs native trees and birds. It's a funny long story but we buried my grandmother in a Pohutukawa wood coffin, so I decided I'm going to grow a Pohutukawa trees bonzi Stile so that when I die it can be planted on top of me . But I'm not allowed to have that so instead instead of a funeral like normal I just want to be cremated and have my family and friends dig a hole out by a beach or nature reserve by where I grew up, sprinkle my ashes in the hole and around the tree as they plant it . That's what I'd like to happen anyway. Have a stainless steel plate with my name and everything on chained to the tree .
I've told my kids/husband that I want to be cremated and I want a bell on my urn. So, when people ask, they can say "my mom was afraid of being buried alive so she wanted a bell" and then they can wait awkwardly and then laugh at how dumb it is. But now I'm wondering if they should just each have a dummy urn, with a little note from me inside, because I'm loving this idea of human composting.
Update: My 16yr old said she think it's a good idea.
Death plan updated!!
The "You would bury the horse" comment really stood out to me, as a horse person, because it's actually far from the truth! In most cases, simply burying a horse is illegal in my area. A lot of local ordinances forbid it, and many horse owners don't own the land their horses live on anyway. In my experience, most are hauled to a landfill. When my first horse died, I opted to pay for an exorbitantly expensive cremation for her, because the thought of my dearest friend being hauled to a landfill was horrifying. Even with paying for the expensive cremation, I had to face the horrifying reality of a gruff truck driver dragging her into a flatbed by her neck via a winch strap. There is a sore need for dignified care for the bodies of large animals.
Definitely a thing in past though. Though taxidermy and other bodily uses were also more common.
And I do bristle at that though that your beloved friend would be dumped at landfill, when she could have been buried in a pasture, possibly with a tree over her, so maybe other horses could have some shade. Definitely need more dignified care for beloved animals, and clear guidelines on what to do, with less regulation.
Aww, that's sad, I'm sorry. I thought they were buried on farms. I would have made the same choice as you. Animals are like family.
I had a giant dog that lots of people jokingly called a horse. He was too big to bury in my yard (legally or practically), so I had to haul his body to the vet's for disposal. I asked a few questions about what would happen and was glad to receive honest answers. It's a very personal decision, and I think the difficulty is eased somewhat when the options are discussed factually.
Yes absolutely we should be able to bury our large animals. There's a race horse buried outside where I work with a gravestone and everything. It's honestly so sweet that he was so loved (he's not even a famous one) and that he remains part of our community
Even worse, in my area they are hauled off to be rendered; I don't know how prevalent that is elsewhere as well. So I also paid the exhoribitant expense to have my horse cremated.
I like how Caitlyn started her UA-cam channel as a place where you could get answers to questions like “what happens to breast implants during cremation?” To now where she’s *changing the world*
Love your handle, and I agree with you 100%
@@sashabowers6738 thank you 😊
When dead people needed her, she was there
She is the best death related demigoth on the whole Interweb. Bar none.
Agree. I don't care for her injecting her politics in the video.
I laughed so hard at the part where he said you wouldn’t use your dead horse to grow your garden… as someone who grew up on a ranch, yes, yes I literally actually did help bury much loved horses with a tractor and plant raspberry bushes and cucumber plants on top of them, that produce was delicious by the way and no it wasn’t creepy or horrible, it was normal and healthy and I even remember thinking it’s too bad we couldn’t have a no fuss no muss situation like that for people
I grew up in farming communities and that tickled me because nearly every farmer or rancher you ask will tell you that, when their livestock dies/ is slaughtered, any leftovers will be buried as fertilizer. And yes, having eaten livestock-fertilized produce, they're damn delicious.
I grew up in the suburbs (although I've spent more time semi rural now), and even when I was a kid under 10. The ground breaks up organic matter (like animals) and turns it into nutrients for plants to grow.
It honestly doesn't phase me. I'm probably going to go for the whole natural burial thing. All going to end up as nutrients one way or another, why slow it down. Unless I have an infectious disease that survives after death. In that case, do whatever you can to stop the spread.
After eating the fruit, you didn't utter "WILLLLBER!"?
Me too! I instantly thought about the local farm where I buy my pork and chicken. They compost the bones & unused parts of the pigs and, in fact, my friend has a very nice garden plot that was started with a truckload of that compost. I helped him pick up the compost and spread it on his new garden plot. It never seemed strange to me. These talking heads are just showing how out of touch they are.
Of course lol, why would you let it go to waste!
As a member of a Federally Recognized Tribe who sits on Tribal Council, I'm working on a presentation on green burials. We first need to set aside land for a dedicated green and/or composting site. Thank you so much for all of your excellent teachings!!
That’s what’s up. Thank You for doing all that thankless legwork to make this planet a better place for the generations that will follow us. You’re a rockstar. 💚
That's what I want to happen when I pass. There's a beauty in recreating life from death ❤
That's awesome! Wishing you luck!!
Our cat died recently and I explained it to my 4 year old in terms of her body becoming tree food. It helped him understand and connect death to everyday life. It’s a lot less scary knowing what happens after death.
That was a nice way of putting it!
We do the same in our family too ☺☺☺
Plant Cat Nip on the cat's grave! That way they can give something back to their fellow cats!
My grandmother was going off about this the other day. It’s new and at her age, especially related to death, I’d imagine new is scary. Since she’s religious, I actually offered her the “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” line and it clicked a little.
THIS
I feel like this is one of the best ways to explain it to more conservative, and especially, Christian people. Traditionally, Catholic funeral rites are more likely to involve burial of a body in a coffin... in order to most closely allow this process. I would love if more people could see composting as yet another way of allowing you to "return to dust" 🙂
I am actually a Christian and that is one reason why I believe in it because to me it is a Biblically sound worldview to take (along with being environmentally friendly and my body not rotting in a box or being set on fire). God formed Adam out of the dust of the earth and Ecclesiastes says “For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”
Ecclesiastes 12:7
My wife has long told me that she wants to be buried so that her body can nourish the roses and lilacs that will be planted on her grave. Then when people come to her grave they can take flowers rather than leaving them. Even in death she wants to give to and comfort others, adding beauty to the world. It's part of why I love her.
Totally agree.
That's so cute
That is such a sweet thing to want for people.
Depending on what state you live in and own property, you CAN bury Grandma in the backyard. Trump did it with his ex-wife.
I am all for this.
This is absolutely lovely.
We actually have the ashes of the former owner’s son in our back field… he was born with a disability and died at age 25, and his wish was for his ashes to be buried in his guitar case on the land where he grew up. Doesn’t bother me one bit and we said “yes” immediately when they asked ❤
I like the idea of having a tree in the backyard that is literally given life by the same energy that made up a loved one, its beautiful when you think about it deeply for a moment.
I have a friend who buries her pets and plants a tree over them and I thought it was soooo cool.
This is exactly what I want to do! I'm still deciding between an October Glory or Autumn Blaze. But as of right now cremation is still my only option. It would be a dream come true to have Human Composting legal in Oklahoma. But only time will tell.
I want to be covered in poison oak.
Then leak my GPS coordinates with a rumor that I'm buried with treasure.
The joke is that there isn't any treasure, but there is a security camera to catch their disappointment and put it on ticktock.
Sometimes a root ball can form in your shape after the tree uses your body for energy, which is metal as hell.
There is a place in Oregon that does that with horses that you can visit. I’m happy to say that I was able to get my horse cremated without having her body disturbed.
The funny thing is that this is close to what happens inside a casket after a “normal” burial. Yet there is 0 issues or “poor grandma” with that process 🤷♀️
That's probably why Americans embalm everyone. They take their religion to literally and think they'll pull a Jesus and get out of their graves
Not really, if you watch Caitlyin's video about caskets vs coffins, she talks about the difference and how in normal casket burial, they lower the casket into a concrete box and cover it with more concrete so that the body is never in contact with soil. That, all of the chemicals they pump into the body to make it look less...unalive.
@@paurey1691 There still is decay that occurs and no amount of chemicals can preserve the body indefinitely. I just find it interesting that an inevitable, natural process is so look down on, especially by people (in my experience) that tout “God’s perfect creation” for a number of other topics.
@@paurey1691 I’m guessing that some of the people that want their bodies preserved are of the Christian type that believe in the “rapture” and want to be ready.
Others may want to look well preserved for the Zombie Apocalypse!
@@paurey1691 is that an "only in the USA" thing?
I know in Australia, it's just the casket surrounded by dirt.
My own mother furiously resists talking about the possibility of me dying before her, and while I don't have any plans of doing so, it is distressing to imagine her wholly unprepared if it does happen. Caitlyn's videos have taught me so many things and I have now become the little weird death positivity member of the family.
Make a will and power of attorney. I mean it. She could end up ignoring your wishes at best and slowly torturing you to death at worst.
I'm the same way! The deathling oddball! I have some family members who are unfortunately degrading in health, and death feels like it's about to pop up out of nowhere. I feel like I'm the only one knowledgeable in the death industry and how they can take advantage of the suffering. I wonder if I'd even have a voice in the matter, or just be shut down.
Humanity is so dissociated from reality that a human decomposing as it's SUPPOSED TO is a topic of debates, discussions and controversy
My father just died this morning, and thanks to your wonderful videos and information, he is having a green burial this weekend in a place he chose and paid for himself well ahead of time. It has made my life easier as I can't imagine trying to do all of this on my own while also trying to come to terms with his death. So thank you for what you do for people with these videos. You're appreciated more than you know. ❤
Condolences🥀
My condolences.
Thank you both ❤
Condolences. I went through it years ago. Remember that your mourning is yours and there are no wrong or bad feelings. I hope his funeral and burial will be as he pictured it. His daughter is kick-ass enough to respect his wishes!
Sorry for your loss. I'm glad you were able to find something that made this time even a tiny bit easier
The thought of being allowed to become soil, of quietly coming apart and being un-made and becoming a natural part of the world around me- able to feed the plants, and house the worms, and be scurried across by mice and ants... it's so beautiful and perfect and meaningful to me that I am literally starting to cry just thinking about it. I don't want to be in a cold damp box. I don't want to be a puddle of dangerous chemicals. I don't want to be in an urn on a mantle, or a bunch of inorganic crumbles just floating on a lake where a loved one scattered me. I want to be a tree, I want to be a crop of tomatoes that nourishes someone, I want kids decades in the future to look for four leaf clovers where my remains once lay. Let me be dirt, conservatives. Give me this one choice about my body when you've taken so many others away.
THIS. I nearly cried with how beautiful the process was when Caitlin showed it in a previous video. I hope that, when I die, it will be an option available here in the UK
What a lovely and poetic comment.
Amen!
Felt that in my every being. Death terrifies me, so if I can actually "live forever" by my one body contributing to the ecosystem... I love it. I raise millipedes and isopods and I would love for those beautiful babies to much on me ❤️❤️
@@sexxxiipanda10 It's absolutely not living forever, not even in quotes. I always wonder why people apply that phrase to silly things like having their name remembered or the living works still be consumed after their death or whatever - none of that is going to help you, you won't experience any of it, you won't know it's happening and nothing during your life can possibly guarantee for you what will happen to you once you're gone, despite your best-laid plans. Nothing that /might/ happen after I stop existing gives me any comfort at all, I do not want to stop existing. As Woody Allen once said, "I don't want to live on in my work, I want to live on in my apartment!"
I can say is you made my mom's death sooo much easier. As soon as my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer I started sending her and my dad your videos lol. It's been a year after mom passed and my dad still talks about how much easier you made things for him.
Deepest sympathies to you and your family 🖤 I’m glad to hear you’ve found some peace in watching these videos. Praying for more peace 🫶🏼
Oh damn that’s awkward. I’m not sure if I’d want my daughter to start sending me videos from a mortician the moment I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer…maybe ease into it- have a conversation with me about it first lol. (FYI I’m slowly dying myself and this was written in a much more lighthearted manner that one may possibly infer, as tone is difficult to gauge in a text comment)
I think it’s wonderful you and your family have found a way to make a bitter, uncomfortable situation a bit easier. Grateful for Caitlin and all the useful information she has shared on this channel. I’ve started the daunting task of planning for my own death, as I do not want it to be as easy as possible for my family when I finally kick the bucket.
I hope your mom is resting easy, deeply sorry for your heartbreak. Losing a parent is so painful. Much love to you and your loved ones.
@@h0rriphic Disagree
Wish i were American. Caitlin would be my go to lady. Brit aged 67. The older one gets the more we accept mortality and consider the matters around it.
You did the correct thing. Bless you.
that’s beautiful
Seeing Glen & Stu ALMOST realize that they think EVERYTHING about dealing with dead is "weird" BECAUSE they don't accept death was enlightening...
I've wanted to be composted since I was a teen in the 1980's. I'm SOOOOOO excited this is finally happening. After I die, I'll get to turn into flowers! Yay!
I don't want to go back through the insanity of their quotes to find who said it and when, but one of them more or less sounds like he doesn't think he's going to die at all. Religious nuts... buncha youtubes.
Modern western society is so divorced from the cycle of life and death. Thank you Caitlin for all of your efforts.
indeed, pro creation and the last days are actively avoided, but that's because human brain is programed by nature for individual survival. It feels, like society it's all just go go go, till you cant go no more.
Nah, that's the US. The rest of the world, not so much.
@@Nadia1989Nah it's most of Western society and it's getting worse
Imagine the zen of attending to Grandma's garden knowing she's right there with you in the garden.
Reminds me of the video where they interview people in a VR game. they ask the players to share their craziest life stories. This one guy tells of how his mother had these 3 trees that she gave names to, and talked to them like they could hear her. The guy always thought it was weird, but went along with it for her.
After the mom died, he learned he had 3 older siblings, all of whom were stillborn. It turned out those 3 trees were named after them. This was all his mother's way of grieving, and giving her one surviving child a relationship with the siblings he'd never meet.
I'm an apprentice funeral director now thanks to your videos and books! Thank you for the inspiration you've provided.
My mother used to buy tomatoes, cucumbers and string beans from a woman who had a huge garden right on the edge of a cemetery. The whole town bought her produce, and the town joke was that her vegetables were so big and tasty because of the bodies nearby, some of whom died in the 1700's, so may not have been embalmed. Thank you for these videos, Caitlin. I love your sense of humor! I'd be happy to sign up to have my body become soil. I wouldn't mind coming back as a string bean!
I think any nutrients from back then are long gone. It'd be nice if you only had to use fertilizer every couple of centuries, though.
As long as I don't become Brussels sprouts.😎
Even if the body is embalmed it will still decomposed just like the rest. With chemicals, but it will become dust.
Germany is probably completely covered in ashes if you get what I mean,with how the wind carried it around
@@kiwiprouddavids724 , Yes. Sadly, you're probably right. Visiting a family in the 1970's, living on the edge of Dachau, I asked them what they noticed coming from those stacks in 1943. His answer was, "As far back as the 1920's, there was always incineration going on over there. With all the other odors of roasting and smoking meat all over Bavaria, we didn't notice anything unusual." I believed him at the time - I mean, who could have imagined what was going on there?
My dad passed away just two weeks ago and your videos really help me through this tough time Caitlyn. He didn't want a lavish and expensive funeral with a polished coffin going into the soil, so he chose the literally cheapest box to get cremated in (we know it uses fossil fuels, he knew as well but it's what he always wanted). Since I talked to him about your channel a lot (before his diagnosis and gloomy prospects), he chose a tree grave, meaning his urne (made entirely out of wood) will be buried in a woodland cemetery in a forest close to where we live, like literally 15min away. The funeral is next week and although I'm crying non-stop, I am glad that we had talked about this topic while we still could. So hearing these doofuses say "I don't want to talk about that" just makes me think of their families and how much they'll struggle with making such decisions. Why would you do that to your loved ones?
I'm so sorry for your loss.
It's good to know what your dad wanted. My mom wants a similar thing but without prior cremation. It sounds peaceful.
You're so right, talking about it is important, even though it's sad.
Wishing you strength.
I'm sorry for your loss! My childhood best friend passed a year ago and they were buried this way in a woodland cemetery. I went to see them for the first time just before the one year anniversary (different country) and it was very serene to be surrounded by nature and being able to hug their tree was comforting despite my tears.
I'm sorry for your loss.
I'm sorry for your loss, I hope you, your family and loved ones get the support you all need during this difficult time
Really sorry for your loss.
Hey if you ever wanna talk or anything here for you.
If composting had been an option when my father died in 2001, he would have been ecstatic. He was born on a small farm in Wisconsin in 1918, and was a life -long enthusiastic gardener, even when his only available land was in containers on his apartment's balcony. As it was, he was happy that my husband and I had bought a house with a yard in time for his ashes to be mixed into our garden.
Also, I will hear no complaints about the cut of your bangs: this length allows us to appreciate the glorious expressive mobility of your eyebrows!
My grandfather was a lifelong farmer and I think would've loved this as well.
Hopefully we can get this option legalized in Wisconsin soon!
Caitlin I am so grateful for your education about after death care. I told my husband I want to be composted and he was creeped out until I showed him your episode explaining it. I can’t wait for this to be legal where I live. To me it feels like a natural and peaceful way to “preserve” a corpse. The fact that it is environmentally friendly is a great bonus. Please continue to educate us in such a quarky enjoyable way. I can’t get enough of your documentaries
Composting is integral to a successful backyard garden! My great-grandparents, grandparents, and other family always composted back in the 60's and 70's, when I was a child, and most likely long before that. The idea of being composted sounds amazing to me. The circle of life!
I sang the last line. Now it’ll be stuck in my head all day! I’m going off to watch the movie.
🎶Be Prepared 🎶 with a death plan….
I can't believe this is real... smh...
i did hear my mom from the other room, if i die and get composted... use me on roses. i hope i can.
As a wastewater worker myself, I do think it's funny them saying that they don't want to think about it. My job really isn't that dirty. It's not like I swim in wastewater. I mostly just work with pumps 🤷♀️
My class took a trip to the waste water treatment plant in my town once. It was really interesting! Your counterpart in my town had a vanity plate that said "poopman" which was epic.
Let them have 15 minutes doing your job would be hilarious. Not only the waste itself but operating a pump. What a SNL skit 😃
Let me say I would have to douse myself with bleach if I was in 5 feet of any Fox buffoons, forget they shaking hands with people who actually work.
People must think it's like that scene in RV haha
it's just rank privilege and ignorance mixed with a good measure of dunning-kruger arrogance. why diss a job that is CRUCIAL to the functioning of modern society? some of these jobs they dissed are so important that just 1 or 2 days without those workers doing their work can collapse a city. these republicans are just the worst hypocrites.
I lived in the Chihuahuan desert for 13 years... I composted everything and grew personal relief bud. When my big male Ranch Dog Jefe died, I gave him a vulture funeral. Watching my primary ranch dog transition into the sky was amazing. It really helped with the grief, and there were no maggots, and no smell. After the birds were done I covered the bones with rocks.
Your dog was a Zoroastrian?
Navajo's also don't bury their animals. They let nature take what it needs to help the living. I had befriended an abandoned dog on one trip who had been rescued from a wash where he fell or was thrown in. He ripped his nails and paws apart in his attempt to get out and 2 workers at the motel I stayed at rescued him. I bought treats and dog food as there were several other strays that got dumped there. We shared a few ice cream sandwiches before I left and sorry to say he got hit by a car the night before I planned to leave and I was heartbroken. I figured at least he had a couple days of love and affection and some good food. I wanted to bury him, but they explained that they do not bury animals, instead letting their bodies sustain other scavengers and the rest returns to the earth. Thank you for helping your dog continue the cycle of life.
To quote Pickles the Drummer "That is the most metal thing I've ever heard."
I read about sky burial when I was a teenager and thought it was so wonderful that. I horrified my mom by saying that I thought that was wonderful and maybe I would want that 🤷♀️😹
What a beautiful thing to do!
About a week ago, my friend took his own life. You’re videos have been more than helpful in getting me through this, thank you ❤
Hey, I hope you're going through this as calmly as possible. Please remember to give yourself as much time as possible and try to take care of yourself, okay? I wish you all the best, genuinely. If you'd like a virtual hug, I'm sending one just in case
🫶🏻
Sincere condolences; it is a loss like no other. 😞 It's ok to not be ok. Take as much time as you need to process it.
When my first horse Amber passed away I chose to have her composted. It comforts me to know that, in a way, she lives on in a flower or a tomato plant or wherever she ended up.
I think that's lovely. Absolutely lovely.
I haven't done a lot in my life except consume, and I think that holds true for most of us. I think it would be lovely to give something back.... I absolutely want to be composted. I don't want to be cremated and I don't want to be chucked in a hole chock-full of chemicals.
I was discussing this a while back, and was told that using human compost would result in haunted gardens. They were totally serious.
The thing is, I fail to see the downside. Think of all the money you'd save in pest repellent when the scarecrow starts walking around at night.
How about a haunted forest? That would be cool imo
Maybe the ghosts would have gardening tips too?
You know what? I already wanted to be composted and this just makes me want to do it more. Hell yeah I want to be a haunted tree.
I'd be fine with a haunted garden
Don't people that believe in ghosts usually attribute to them to things like unfinished business or malice towards the living? If somebody _wants_ to be composted, it shouldn't conflict with their particular brand of nonsense at all.
You know there's dozens of grandmas out there whose flower gardens and veggie gardens are their pride and joy who saw composting themselves was an option and were immediately like "update my will!" someone was like "don't you think it's desrespectful?" "disrespectful? to become a thing of beauty? a joy forever? no. no I don't think it's disrespectful at all."
I ain’t a Grandma and I don’t have a flower garden (yet lol) but as someone who LOVES nature and beauty, (I know this bout to sound real corny but) I would be more than honoured if I in some way, shape or form, were to have contributed to the life of nature and beauty whether I’m here to see it or not lol
My parents both originally wanted (and I believe still want, within the unfortunately limited options available to us in the state of Dick Ham) to be cremated and then spread over their garden. My mom found out on her own about human composting the other week and was so stoked about it
I'm in that caregory.
Anything humans don't fully comprehend tends to scare us. It is weird to them because they fear it. Thank you for your work. I would choose to be composted over cremation or burial.
Exactly. And when people react angrily to new ideas regarding "body disposal" my mom would remind me, "anger is fear, or loss of control, of the unknown".
"We don't like what we don't understand, in fact it scares us."
Unfortunately its not even that half the time. They just see California and New York (“liberal” states) as the enemy and start politicizing it JUST to cause division. They genuinely do not care they pander and spread misinformation for political and financial gain
Patience and education are so, so important.
I think religion has a strong role in that too. There are certain burial customs in various religions that could be difficult to overcome.
In one of my college classes for public speaking. We were assigned to do a persuasive speech about anything we wanted. I ended up doing mine on human composting. I didnt realize how taboo it actually would be in the class. I definitely got some looks of criticism and some murmurs from the class, but thats totally ok. Surprisingly, my teacher loved it. I wanted to just say thank you for introducing me to this option since its now what I'd want to happen to my body. I got most of my information from your videos. So thank you for that A+ on my speech.
Omg! I didnt see this till now. Absolutelyv
Yesterday I had surgery and decided to leave my husband a brief list of my wishes if I didn’t wake up. He was a bit freaked about it (not a deathling) but I explained we each had a parent die where others were not sure of all their wishes and I thought this way was better. It’s opened a conversation now and I think that’s positive.
It's so funny to me , these guys always use the "doing this horrible thing to grandma!" argument when they flat out said grandma would be happy to sacrifice herself to covid so these guys could keep going to bars and movies. Quite the expendable tool, is grandma.
And natural decomposition is biblical. "Dust to dust" and what not. Chemical preservation is extremely unnatural.
You mean living life?
My body my choice, it goes both ways
That also wasn't an argument. Some arguments were the efficacy of masks (the people pushing them were inconsistent), whether or not the shot stopped transmission, the vax safety, and bodily autonomy. All valid arguments
@UCVk0TDFHfrmg2uMIDVYD3SA I can already tell there's no convincing you of the truth, so I won't bother.
I was excited when I heard about composting human remains. I told my husband that's what I want done to me. Why on earth anyone would rather have their boddy pumped full of chemicals, then buried in an expensive box, is beyond me. Cremation is also weird to me.
love the idea of composting! I imagine having gravewoods instead of graveyards, and everyone can do just a little landscaping around the tree of your loved one. You can hang little plaques on the tree that read, “Here grows grandma, 1953-2019.” For days visiting the grave tree, you can hang a fun little tire swing for kids to play on, or get everyone involved in planting a little flower at the foot of the tree. The scenery would be lovely for picnics to share with the passed family members. Or you can always just have a family centric tree, where family members always have their soil added so they mingle together in one family tree to visit annually.
So many possibilities~
What the heck, why'd my grandma only live to be 66?!
Oh I love the family tree! My uncle still owns the land that my great great grandpa bought when he came to America. The thought of a huge old oak growing on that farm fed by the soil of all of us and our loved ones, giving shade to our descendants. Gosh it's so beautiful.
I'm a genealogist so I like the potential tongue in cheek of calling it "The Family Tree" as well. Gives me a good little chuckle 😂
This is how we get haunted forests ;)
@@kthearcher3357 This is how we repopulate the haunted forest ecosystem.
Wonderful idea! Hope it comes to pass.
My husband passed last May, he wanted to do this but we are in a state that it is not legal to. Transportation of a body across state lines is outrageously priced, I had to go with his second choice of cremation 😢
Thank you for tackling this important change.
Thats a shame tgat he wasnt able to go with his forst choicr. Hopefully its an option for more more people soon..
For what ists worts, i have seen some composters talking about havinv their s
cremains/ashes added to a comlost pile, to be turned into soil.
Ive also, i believe, heard soneone from recompose talk about how there eas an experiment where cremation ashes were added onto the composting process, without negatively affecting the ouycome, and about how ( iyhink maybe) cremated ashes could be added into a reconlose n. o. r process.
So there's that. 🌱🌲🌳💚
@@wiresa.reintresting7051 I will have my daughter look into adding his ashes to my remains should I be able to do this. Thank you
@@wiresa.reintresting7051 That sounds like a beautiful option for sure!
The assertion from Beck that one wouldn't compost a horse shows that he is out of touch with "salt of the earth" farmers. I am glad you mentioned livestock composting, Caitlin.
My shepherd friend also jokes from time to time to just stick her in the compost pile when she goes.
Hello Tara how are you doing,
where are you from?
"they don't get it, but they support your decision to do it" Holy crap, if we could just get people to be that way for EVERYTHING!!!!! Think of how much of a better world we would live in.
I lost my mother suddenly a few months ago, and it really sensitized me to noticing how desperately people work at avoiding discussing death, from hiding it behind euphemism to seemingly pretending that the deceased has just stepped out for a second. Or how hollow the 'so sorry for your loss' rote response is, like, you're the customer service representative for the gas company, you don't have any idea who I am. You don't actually have to be sympathetic? I'm just changing the name on the account? Maybe I'm weird like that. I know my mom would have loved the composting idea, and if she'd had any choice in the matter, would have DEMANDED I bring the resulting mulch home to turn into the garden. Instead I had to stick her in a pot in a grass lawn fifteen miles from the house. I hope you can get this legalized for everyone.
We don't know each other at all and yet I still have empathy for the loss of your mother. I'm so sorry you experienced a sudden loss, as well. My mother has been gone for years now and I still miss her dreadfully.
I understand you have your own point of view but it's perfectly possible for strangers to truly care about the death of a person in your life. In fact, for this stranger, it's impossible for me not to feel empathy for you.
Listening to their back and forth of sarcasm and 'but it's weird' my brain keeps going..."When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great circle of life." I know it's cartoon animals discussing this, but 5 year old me was able to grasp this concept, and it's always been a rather comforting description to me. Much better to become something new than being buried deep in an expensive wooden box.
BUT THEN WHAT HAPPENS to the grass the antelope eat??? Hint, in one way, out the other!
@@Capohanf1 That's just how life works, and your body isn't literally transferred into the grass. The grass feeds on its nutrients. Kind of like how the antelope's poo isn't the same thing as the grass. The body takes the nutrients, and makes it something else. I think that's what most of these people against composting don't understand. Even eating fruit and whatnot that was grown with human composted soil does not mean you're eating a body. I understand that there's a "gross factor" to it because of social conditioning, but it doesn't change the facts. I mean, a lot of crops are fertilized with cow poo, chicken poo, etc but that doesn't mean we're eating livestock poo lol
I have been weirded out more than once by what I heard about funerals in the US. Having open caskets? Keeping your loved ones' ashes on the mantle?? Things they consider traditional like heavily embalming a body would be a "hell no" for me, but if you want to do it, sure go ahead. On the other hand I appreciate the thought of my body becoming worm food.
That started when I was in school- we had to read a poem by Theodor Fontane, where a noble who always gives local children free pears asks to have a pear tree planted on his grave. The poem describes how, after the new pear tree has grown, children can hear a voice from the tree whispering to them, asking them if they want a pear. I thought it was amazing to have your legacy preserved in that way and I want the same for me eventually.
What do they imagine happens to NON-COMPOSTED corpses?
'Cartoon animals' is a great description
They sound like 7 year olds in a playground.
@@contra1124 There is a GREAT line in an ALL in the Family episode. Mike was talking to Archie about cremation and Archie said, "Knowing your mother in law, I would end up in the vaccum cleaner!"
The most frustrating thing about this misunderstanding is they keep dancing around " yeah it's wired but if they want to do it their choice." And "THERE NEEDS TO BE RESPECT FOR THE HUMAN BODY."
"Misunderstanding"- They know what they're doing and don't care.
@@mysticmoth1111 naw, just conflicted. Bit of an assumption but conservatives lean to traditional Christian belief. Anything that destroys the body is taboo. Can't resurrect soil. But he seems to respect cremation so maybe they will learn.
@@nickdesanto6119 can’t “resurrect” something if you’re still alive in another form
@@nickdesanto6119 Conservatives want to remove all forms of bodily autonamy and force others to do as they say; the Christianity is a façade. Although it is true that conservative thinking leads to strong disgust reactions and pushing "unpleasant" thoughts away.
He uses the same tone like you murdered someone for composting. “Respecting the human body, cheapening human life” it’s issues while your living that effect that, not the way you dispose yourself after your dead
Rewatching this since my mom died last Wednesday and is getting ready to start her composting process in Washington soon. 🙏
As someone who is mostly death positive but hasn’t really put too much thought into what i want done with my body when I die, watching your previous human composting video was an awakening moment of finally being able to describe exactly what i want for my remains.
That's how I would exactly describe myself to a T! The moment I watched the video for Human Composting was my definitive moment of "A-HA! THIS IS IT! THIS IS WHAT I WANT DONE FOR MY REMAINS!!". Cause before it was gonna be cremation. It might very well still be if the bill doesn't pass when it finally reaches Oklahoma 😟.
How much does it cost?
@@HeadNtheClouds the first results to pop up I see it's between $4,000 to $5,500. Which if you have Life Insurance should cover that nicely I think. Unless you decide to start saving up money towards it in the future. But I could be wrong, and the prices could vary from state to state.
after being directionless and scared for my future, your content has shown me a career path i am not only passionate about and want to do, but something i genuinely think i was put on this earth to do. so happy that human composting is becoming more accepted and i hope that it can happen in Canada, too! i know i’ll be right at the door of the Parliament when these requests are presented!
i feel the same way, she made me discover what i was made for
It’s legal in Saskatchewan and BC; last time I checked. Maybe more provinces now. I’m also pretty sure that you can be shipped to a province that will do it! Hi, from a non-crazy Albertan😊
I hope it becomes legal in Quebec! I would like to write a letter to a representative about it, but I don’t know at witch level I should aim (federal? provincial?) If you have any idea, please tell me!
🇨🇦 👍
I would have liked working in death industry but my body’s illness prevents me. Already a potato…maybe I will compost, lol!
My Grandpa passed away earlier this month. As a deathling, I wasn't bothered by interacting with his dead body. I patted his hand and placed a handmade lace heart I had tatted (an antique form of lace making) on his chest to be buried with him. It was important to me to give him one last handmade gift to be buried with. I thanked the funeral directors for their work; they had done an excellent job making him look like himself, like he used to before he got sick. My grandma got to kiss her husband of 64 years goodbye and my aunt's got to say goodbye to their father.
The part of it all that I did find weird was the casket. It was shiny silverish grey metal with chrome accents, like a car. Absolutely massive. He's buried at a triple plot headstone where my uncle, his son, is already buried. My grandma will join them there when she passes. I think it's beautiful that they will all get to be together again. I just find the giant Mercedes-Benz like caskets odd. I had a conversation with my mom about human composting on our way to my aunt's house after the funeral. I told her about the laying in ceremony and everything. She seemed interested and open to the idea. It's definitely what I would want (hopefully a long, long time from now).
My condolences. I'm glad you're handling it well and got to tell him goodbye
I was lucky enough to stumble into a state subcommittee meeting where a bill about this was being discussed. I didn't even know it existed, and I enthusiastically spoke up for public comment. Time was limited, and focus was elsewhere, so the only two arguments I heard against it were 1. Property disclosure and 2. A guy from the funeral industry mentioning that water cremation takes too much energy. This is an absolutely perfect video to show my friends and neighbors if I want to get their attention on the subject.
And maybe, just maybe, if we can come to an understanding about the importance of making our own choices about death, we can come to an understanding about life. Wham! full circle.
My girlfriend was a big fan of you she watched every video of you when she could. She passed away August 31 2022 i am just thankful you put a smile on her face. ❤️
Thank you so much and keep the good job ❤️
I'm so sorry for your loss. My late boyfriend lost his battle with depression five years ago last month, I know all too well how much it hurts. I hope you're able to find comfort in the memories you created together. I know it's hard now, but it does get easier with time. Love from an internet stranger 🖤
I’m sorry for your loss 💔
I'm so sorry for your loss.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
You all. Invest 120 mins maximum and check out Lee Strobel. Hardcore atheist dragged by legit evidence of Jesus Christ, Risen from the dead. Worship Life and Our God. People hurt you. Not God.
I first started frequently watching this channel when I was severely ill and looking at a very real possibility of not being on this earth for much longer. I’m blessed that I did get better, but I’m really grateful I took the time to figure all of this out so young- that way whenever something does happen, my loved ones have a plan. So many people in my life have that same attitude of ‘I don’t want to think about it.’ But even if you choose not to think about it, that doesn’t make death go away. It’s so important to be prepared, regardless of your health or medical situation.
you’ve been through a lot! I’m glad to hear you got better, and may you stay better for many years to come ❤
That's awesome that now you are "prepared" 😆 but most importantly, that you got better!! ❤️
This debate mostly comes from their initial proclamations of not wanting to think about death or what happens after. Your channel helped me prepare for the eventuality of my father's death. Leading up to it, I made my sister, and my dad, make decisions about what to do after his passing. I made them confirm his burial plans, confirm what could done with his headstone, confirm my mother's ashes could go in the casket with him and that her name could be listed on the headstone with his. When he passed, those preparations made that part so much less of a hassle. It doesn't cheapen human life. I love my dad. I miss him everyday. I do not regret making him those conversations about what to do when he passed.
Because of the fiasco of my Grandfather's death wishes (he wanted to be a whole body donation to a medical school and ended up being buried), My Mum and Dad set out their wishes with me well before their deaths - they were both to be cremated and My Mum's ashes were split between her parents and her son and My Dad's are eventually going to be placed in a firework display (one giant chrysanthymum blossom rocket). He loved the idea when I proposed it to him. I want to either donate my organs and skin or a whole body donation to a medical school. I don't care what happens after that, but I hope by the time I die, composting/aquamation is common.
Girl I just noticed how freaking close you are to TWO MILLION! Congrats! You’re such a joy & informative & your doing an important service to us all.
As a self-hair-cutter, I feel and see your pain. May your bangs make a swift recovery.
Everyone with that hair style should come together and form a group called the Lord Farquad Style Squad
Love the idea of composting. It feels gentle and natural. Cremation is a little intense for me. Embalming feels goulish
Someone else may have completely different feelings... which is why it's important people have options
I absolutely agree. I don't like composting notionally for my loved ones at all, really given the gruesomeness involved in everything, I lean towards cremation, but I'm as happy as anyone should be, that the option is there.
Personally, I'm fine with anything but would prefer cremation, composting, or donating my body to science.
Ashes
Headstones become a chore or ignored in just so little time
I personally LOVE the idea of becoming soil. Always loved it. And since I discovered your channel some years ago, I've gotten really interested in water cremation as well. I am out here in Denmark yelling "COMPOST MY BODY PLEASE (when I die, that is, let's not be crazy)"
While motorbiking through Vietnam (old Top Gear style) I saw many Vietnamese graveyards. The plots would often have a family shine containing the bones of ancestors, and an above ground crypt where a body would be placed inside and covered with large gravel. This allowed air, bacteria and insects to breakdown the soft tissue leaving just bones that would then be placed in a bag and added to the family shrine.
This is wonderful. Thanks for the video and your advocacy.
I live in the West of Ireland....every day the community radio station reads out the announcements of who in the district has died and where their body will repose until the funeral. An open casket, usually in the front living room, where family and friends still stay up all night with the corpse of their loved ones and go through traditional catharsis and celebration of life and death in a "wake" with much food and drink and stories. Familiarity with the process of death has never left here and I feel it is a healthy way to look at our human existence.
I would love to be a tree , compost me, say I, and let the bats in my belfry from my mortal life be birds in my branches in the hereafter :)
Love from an Aussie in Ireland.
Hello Duck
I'm not crying, you're crying.
Always loved the idea of a traditional Irish wake. I wonder if my Irish immigrant ancestors did that back in the late 1800s or if funeral homes had already become the norm here in the US by that time.
Being a New Yorker, I literally cheered out loud when I heard the news! Your help in making this a reality in my state is truly appreciated!
@Lisa T - Hear! Hear!
I’m in ct.
Thank you so much for your content. I'm a pastor and have walked with many families through the funeral process and although I have loved so many of the funeral directors I have worked with I have also struggled with the larger funeral industry, especially when it comes to families who cannot afford to use a funeral home and carry a shame around that. And so a deep thank you for all your work around death positivity and alternative options.
Please answer two simple multiple choice questions:
In the context of what Paul wrote:
1) Who would most likely kill Jesus just for looking like, and believed to be just a human as related in the Kenosis Hymnal in Philippians? In other words who would find it a crime just for looking like, and believed to be human that's punishable by death?
Philippians 2:7-8
NRSV
"but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross."
YLT
"but did empty himself, the form of a servant having taken, in the likeness of men having been made, and in fashion having been found as a man, he humbled himself, having become obedient unto death -- death even of a cross,"
A) Romans B) Jews C) Romans & Jews D) Satan
In the context of what Paul wrote:
2) Who would most likely not kill Jesus if was made known to them (without a doubt) that killing Jesus would fulfill God's preordained secret plan for mankinds salvation as per God's will? In other words who would be against eternal life for humans in that they would not follow through in killing Jesus because it would give said humans a chance at immortality?
Note: Rulers of this Age (Principalities); Rulers of the Earth realm is interchangeable with rulers of the spiritual realm to the ancient reader.
1 Corinthians 2:6-8
NRSV
"Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."
YLT
"And wisdom we speak among the perfect, and wisdom not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age -- of those becoming useless, but we speak the hidden wisdom of God in a secret, that God foreordained before the ages to our glory, which no one of the rulers of this age did know, for if they had known, the Lord of the glory they would not have crucified;"
A) Romans B) Jews C) Romans & Jews D) Satan
@@bleirdo_dude strangers on the internet don’t owe you quiz answers. Go talk to a local pastor. Maybe make a donation to the church as a thank you for his/her time. 🙄
@@dewilew2137 Drug addictions, and thought addictions are closely related on a neurological level. Some people are more beholden to the ancient part of the brain (Meso Limbic System/emotional) rather than someone that reasons using the modern part (Frontal Cortex/rational).
Imagine the euphoria experienced by the average person for believing they won a million dollars on a scratch off ticket (it could be a joke ticket yet as long as they believe). Now imagine someone having the same sensations, but being convinced it's a paranormal contact for believing John 3:16.
We evolved to seek pleasure (eating/reproduction), and avoid getting killed (tiger in the grass/competing neighbor/harsh enviroment). With our increased cognitive abilities we made up other reasons for pleasure, and survival beyond basic necessity. The Dopamine Reward System over time bridges gaps in pathways in order to form habits in order to repeat behaviors, and or thoughts. The often cited testimony of getting off an addiction thanks to a God is just a placebo replacement due to the power of the mind (an AA participant I heard of chose to worship the radiator in his room instead of an higher power, and became sober).
"The second system, known as the mesolimbic system, has its cell bodies in the ventral tegmental area, which is medial to the substantia nigra. It projects to several parts of the limbic system, including the nucleus accumbens and ventral portions of the striatum, amygdala, and hippocampus, as well as prefrontal cortex. This system has been linked to reward-related behavior (Berridge and Kringelbach, 2015). Dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens increase in response to both natural reinforcers (such as food, drink, and sex) and drugs of abuse (such as amphetamine and cocaine). Additionally, in humans, activity in this region increases in response to more abstract rewards, such as money."
Marie T. Banich/Rebecca J. Compton, Cognitive Neuroscience, Section: Subsystems, pp. 2/3
"Dopamine, in fact, is critical in association learning and the reward system of the brain that Skinner discovered through his process of operant conditioning, whereby any behavior that is reinforced tends to be repeated. A reinforcement is, by definition, something that is rewarding to the organism; that is to say, it makes the brain direct the body to repeat the behavior in order to get another positive reward. ...The connection between dopamine and belief was established by experiments conducted by Peter Brugger and his colleague Christine Mohr at the University of Bristol in England. Exploring the neurochemistry of superstition, magical thinking, and belief in the paranormal, Brugger and Mohr found that people with high levels of dopamine are more likely to find significance in coincidences and pick out meaning and patterns where there are none."
Michael Shermer, The Believing Brain, Section: 6 The Believing Neuron pp. 8-10/29
"Genetic and behavioral factors influencing religiously motivated behavior appear related to dopamine metabolism and signaling. Inclination toward religious behavior and motivation has been associated with a polymorphism on the dopamine receptor gene DRD4 (Comings, Gonzales, Saucier, Johnson, & MacMurray, 2000;Sasaki et al., 2013). Acquired disorders of dopamine physiology also show links to religious behaviors."
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5478470/
"Religious and spiritual experiences activate the brain reward circuits in much the same way as love, sex, gambling, drugs and music, report researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine."
unews.utah.edu/this-is-your-brain-on-god/
"Dopamine, adrenaline, and noradrenaline are neurotransmitters that belong to the catecholamine family. Dopamine is produced in the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental regions of the brain, and dopamine alterations are related to schizophrenia (1, 2). ...The “original dopamine hypothesis” states that hyperactive dopamine transmission results in schizophrenic symptoms."
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4032934/
"Dopamine In schizophrenia (SCZ), there is evidence that very high levels of dopamine in the limbic system play a major role in emergence of hallucinations and delusions. Antipsychotic medications, which block central dopamine activity, alleviate the hallucinations of psychosis. Drugs with strong dopaminergic effect, such as L-dopa, methylphenidate, bromocriptine, pramipexole and piribedil, may induce hallucinations. D-amphetamine, a direct dopamine agonist, may also induce psychosis and hallucinations."
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2996210/
"Here, we show that administration of a drug that enhances dopaminergic function (dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine; L-DOPA) increases an optimism bias. This effect is due to L-DOPA impairing the ability to update belief in response to undesirable information about the future."
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3424419/
Tibetan mystics have long practiced a method to create so called sentient beings (Tulpas) from the power of concentrated thought.
Note: These Tulpas are not sentient beings, but a manifestation of the subconscious mind through neural plasticity via neurochemical imbalancing inducing meditation. In other words it's having a dream state while awake, and interacting with a character that's made up of one's own preformed thoughts (building blocks of ideas/concepts that are below conscious awareness) which gives the illusion of sentience. In simpler words it's self induced schizophrenia due to stresses (psychological/physical/environmental) where neurochemical traffic gets rerouted causing hallucinations to any of the five senses, also including involuntary movement, and distorted speech (glossolalia).
Ancient people did not know the neurosciences. Philo of Alexandria thought that joy came from Heaven by way of God's chief archangel the "Divine Word/Right Reason (Logos)".
ON DREAMS, THAT THEY ARE GOD-SENT Book 2
"XXXVII ...And who can pour over the happy soul which proffers its own reason as the most sacred cup, the holy goblets of true joy, except the cup-bearer of God, the master of the feast, the Word?"
ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION, III
"LX ...the soul very often, when it is delighted, is yet unable to explain what it is that has delighted it; but it is taught by the hierophant and prophet Moses, who tells it, “This is the bread, the food which God has given for the Soul, (Exo. 16:15)” explaining that God has brought it, his own Word and his own Reason; for this bread which he has given us to eat is this Word of his."
The High Priest's headdress had a crown made of a plant known for it's hallucinogenic properties at which a golden plate covered the forehead. On said golden plate was inscribed sacred characters for the name of God.
Josephus: THE ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS, BOOK 3, CHAPTER 7 (172-178), CONCERNING THE GARMENTS ...OF THE HIGH PRIEST
"6. The high priest's mitre was the same that we described before, and was wrought like that of all the other priests; above which there was another, with swathes of blue embroidered, and round it was a golden crown polished, of three rows, one above another; out of which arose a cup of gold, which resembled the herb which we call Saccharus: but those Greeks that are skilful in botany call it Hyoscyamus. ...Now the fruit is preserved by this coat of the calyx, which fruit is like the seed of the herb Sideritis: it sends out a flower that may seem to resemble that of poppy. Of this was a crown made, as far as from the hinder part of the head to each of the temples; but this Ephielis, for so this calyx may be called, did not cover the forehead, but it was covered with a golden plate, which had inscribed upon it the name of God in sacred characters. And such were the ornaments of the high priest."
Hyoscyamus Niger
" ...was historically used..., as well as for its psychoactive properties in "magic brews". These psychoactive properties include visual hallucinations and a sensation of flight. ...The plant, recorded as Herba Apollinaris, was used to yield oracles by the priestesses of Apollo."
wiki/Hyoscyamus_niger
Scrambled neurochemistry is insight to another realm for some people.
The Holy Dopamine Ghost (Thoughts are addictive)
playlist?list=PLQATeZAnm87BaJjBtM1vMIq_gHRmBq3ie
Scripture is designed to keep people in the thought addiction, and shut out from the group those that question.
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." (Prov. 1:7)
"In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." "but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed." (2 Cor. 4:4, 3:16)
"As for the Disbelievers, Whether thou warn them or thou warn them not it is all one for them; they believe not. Allah hath sealed their hearing and their hearts, and on their eyes there is a covering. Theirs will be an awful doom." (Quran 2.006-.007)
"Fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good." (Psa. 14:1)
"but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Dopamine Ghost can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin" (Mark 3:29)
Well then you need a living will if she’s unable or unwilling to do that. You’re not helping trying to force to to face something that obviously terrifies her, so on the off chance you stop breathing before she does then you need to have some paperwork in place and leave it at planning for her death because you’re more comfortable discussing the subject of deathz
@Bleirdo Dude You know this isn't book club right? 🙄
😂 what the hell do they think our yard dirt is made of?? 😂😂😂😂
My mother passed on January 23, 2023, in California. The mortician discussed various options, including water cremation. When she mentioned that option, I felt like cheering. Victory for Caitlin and the Order of the Good Death!!! However, she did not mention composting. Was it legal in CA on that date? BTW my sister and I decided on cremation with Mom's cremains incorporated into glass making and hand blown into a lovely piece of art. Thank you, Caitlin, for all the hard work you've done to create and support for alternatives to Big Funeral.
While I like this idea aren’t you afraid it’ll break?
@@alyshasocie6120 my first thought too. Maybe it could be melted down and reblown if so but that would be devastating for it to break.
Your idea of creating a piece of art sounds lovely. As far as the legislation in California, my understanding is that while the legislation passed to approve it there in late 2022, the law doesn't go into effect until 2027. I'm not sure why.
I'm sorry for loss.
Wow I'm sorry for your lose. My best friend died the same day. I miss her all the time.
Watching your videos always reminds me of something my dad, a forty year licensed physician, once told me. "We spend billions of dollars in this country, needlessly, every year because we refuse to accept that death is the inevitability of life." Hopefully I still have many many decades ahead of me, the idea of helping to continue the circle of life sounds pretty appealing to me.
And that's a huge part of the health care crisis in this country.
The thought of my body becoming a cute garden for tortoises with fresh tomatoes makes me feel so happy. If you see the leaves shake, it's my spirit dancing.
I just wanted to say thank you. After years of watching, my Dad and I had a great talk about his death plan. A couple of weeks ago, we had a peaceful natural burial with my father in a shroud, not embalming, and it was beautiful. ❤
They said exactly what I wanted to point out. Name ONE method of getting rid of a body (cremation, natural burial ect.) that can not be described in a disgusted way. You can easily demonize every option if you want. 🤷🏼♀️
If I can donate my organs to save someone's life and then become a compost to help forrest grow that's the great way to go in my humble opinion.
I wish composting option will be avalible in Poland, before my time arrive and I'll be able to become a part of the forrest. ❤
Hej, witam z Łodzi! Ale miło zobaczyć inną fankę kanału!
@@littlewendigo5055 Hi! Wrocław here. :D
Polish deathlings unite! ❤
@@crazyfrytka i visited your city some time ago and i fell in love with it, its really a nice surprise to stumble into a Polish deathling!
@@littlewendigo5055 Oh, I'm glad you liked it. :D
Hope you'll come back in the future. 😁
I've been watching this channel for years now, and I can say it has allowed me to build a way healthier relationship with death, even though I'm incredibly afraid of loss.
The idea of composting, returning to the Earth and that our loved one became one with it again is very comforting in some way. So happy and proud of what you have managed to achieve.
I'm writing a paper on it for my environmental law course, I really hope to see it legalized in my country one day.
The fear of loss is the one issue with death that I have not been able to fully embrace. I have no fear of my own mortality, but the thought of losing my loved ones hits me hard. I am slowly talking to them about their death plans, so that I can at least do what is right by them, and honour their spirits should them go first. I am with you that composting just seems a very comforting idea, and hope to see it become legal in the UK in my lifetime
I agree
I showed my mom the original video about composting and she wants to do that too! she's also super paranoid about being buried alive and this is an excellent way to make sure that doesn't happen!
Omg saaaame
Uh, as opposed to being put in a cylinder alive to rot? I'd rethink that if I were you. smh
I don't get them being upset about gardens made from human compost. I love the idea for myself. I told my friends (who all have green thumbs) that I want my body to be composted, and I want the compost used in a sort of memorial garden. I'm compiling a list of my favorite flowers and fruits/veggies to be grown with my compost. It seems beautiful to me. A living memorial to me, one which gives back to my best friends who are pretty much my family at this point.
My family hates the idea, and they think that they should get to decide what happens to my body, and even if I get composted, they think they should get to decide who gets compost and who doesn't. Which is why it's important to me to get my will done up as soon as possible even though I'm only 19.
All this to say, I personally think it's a beautiful process, and I'm glad I'll get the choice.
Different cultures all over the world have different views on death and the final disposal of the deceased. To insinuate that the guys in the video are somehow wrong for their cultural views on death sounds like bigotry. Do better.
i know right?? they started describing the growing flowers thing and i was just like "dont threatened me with a good time"
It’s beautiful to become soil. For many years I’ve dreamed of a sky burial, composting is a legal way to be returned to the life cycle. Thank you for your educational content
I was so happy to hear when human composting got legalized in California. Thank you for being a part of the movement! It finally gives me something to do with my body when I die. My family doesn't typically have funerals, so the whole process is very foreign. We usually just cremate, but that's because there's nothing else to do with it and we don't bury our dead. We feel like its cruel to your living relatives to bury yourself because then you kind of still exist somewhere and it tethers the living relatives to the spot, rather than letting them feel free to leave and go where is best for them. Both physically and mentally.
That's a really interesting perspective! Is that a cultural belief, or religious? Or just how your individual family views it? I haven't really heard that idea before, so I'm curious.
I love your username!
@@whateverlolawants just a personal family belief, but I believe it came from the side of the family that was nomadic and Norwegian decent. I think it's funny, but my grandma always says, "make sure you burn my body. I don't want the worms to eat me." And I think the ashes are typically scattered in the place they would "find peace". But there are no headstones or recorded locations of the ashes. My mom told me when I was little that we should let the dead go when they die and we celebrate the life that's still here, because the dead are already celebrating. It's kind of a mish mash between nordic tradition, christianity, and traveling gypsies.
@@Sindollx666x thank you!!
@@TheAngryChinchilla it's also a beautiful way to honor the dead, thanks for sharing.
For someone who is terrified of dying (trust me, my therapist pointed it out to me and BOY DID I SPIRAL) and other people dying, I can't seem to stay away form your videos xD
Thanks for always being so informative and clear cut
hooray for desensitizing yourself to hard things!
Very brave of you. It will happen whether you face up to it or not, better to be prepared.
Congrats on doing something to help yourself by enlightening yourself and disarming your fears! I had similar issues and this has helped immensely.
While I'm not terrified, I definitely don't want to go. What might make you feel less stressed, is to take some control. You can't choose when/how/where you're going to meet your end, but you could certainly write out your wishes. (When I finally breathe my last, at the age of 120....")
I'm thinking of doing this myself. Write out how you feel about your friends, family, and loved ones. Write how you prefer your remains to be handled. Write whether or not you'll donate your organs. Write who you want to have the things that matter to you. Write how you want your memorial to look--somber funeral, remembrance party, religious home-going, etc. Write down bits of advice to leave behind. You might even make a video. Put all these things in a box, and let your power of attorney know where to find it.
I'd also make a bucket list. It doesn't have to be crazy stuff--like running with the bulls. Make it a list of things you hope to accomplish--so you can start working harder to get there. (Buy a house, finish my degree, get a dog, visit Europe.)The thing that scares me most about death, is leaving so much unfinished. I don't want to leave in the middle of the good stuff, and I don't want to be forgotten. Name your fear, face it down, and you'll discover it's not so tough.
Every time I listen to her voice I go into this hypnotic state. Your voice can hypnotize anyone who hears it. ❤
She does have a very lovely voice.
And lovely eyes. One could drown in those eyes.
Why is it these people always take novel approaches in bad faith and actively go out of their way to be as surface-level as possible and, well, obnoxious about it all? You can hear the disdain in their voices. Also, that "what a wonderful way to go!" reeks of death denial and insecurity. Oh, and I just have to say I've been watching your channel for possibly 6 years now. Glad to see you're almost at 2 million subscribers.
Like what do they think happens when you are buried? Do they really not know you decompose? I can't imagine someone being this weird and uncomfortable about the well-known fact that dead things rot and turn to soil. They really are going out of their way to be as surface level as possible
It was so infuriating listening to them talking about it that way 😤! I'm very happy for the people living there finally having the legal option to compost themselves after death. I can only pray it'll be the same result in Oklahoma one day 😟🙏.
Seriously. Caitlin is a far better person than I am because I can't stand listening to their smug, sarcastic, obnoxious voices
As a New York resident, I thank you for your help! I am only 56, and don't plan to use the service for a very long time, but it is good to know that my family won't have to drag my carcass over the border to Vermont!
l'm an organ donor, so my inner utilitarian loves the idea of my useful bits being given to those that need them and the rest being used to plant a flower bed or a sapling. Honestly, the idea of me sitting in a casket pumped full of preservatives forever and ever creeps me out a whole lot more than being gently retaken by the Earth. So thank you, Caitlyn, for doing so much work to legalize human composting.
thats what i'm thinking. strip my body for parts when i'm done, and plant a tree over me. srart a haunted forest.. i mean, preserved nature land *coughs*
Organ donor here and I hope my family has me composted.
I agree. I am hoping to get "Aqua-mated" when my time comes. Caitlyn is wonderful. I have learned so much from her videos. I greatly appreciate her efforts to make funeral arrangements a "little less scary" to contemplate...and a lot less expensive to pay for. We lost my in-laws two years apart. Their cultural tradition "requires" Embalmed/Rosary/Visitation/Bury in ground, pretty Headstone. Unfortunately, most of those who want these elaborate burials can't afford to pay for them, nor can afford to prepay for them. That was our in-laws' situation. They had no money.
The family members...meaning US...had to get loans in order to come up with our portion of the 14K for each burial. You can't finance an elaborate burial thru the cemetery we had to use, either. So much for Christian charity. Pay all at once...or let 'em rot!
Same here - I've been on the organ donor list ever since my teens, when I lost a favourite uncle while he was waiting on the transplant list for a new liver. If some part of me can save the lives of anyone else, they're welcome to any bits they want. Though I recommend against the eyes and lungs - the eyes were defective to start with, and have only gone downhill with time, and Covid did a number on the lungs 3 yrs back. If they can use any of the rest, have at it!
Just either compost whatever's left over, or bury it naturally, and maybe plant some lilacs on top. I like lilacs.
Do…do they not know how decomposition works?? This is literally just a sped up ground burial except you get returned when you’re done turning into soil. Literally do this to me. Graveyards legit freak me out because I do not want to end up in one, forgotten, alone, and unable to decompose. Throw me into the woods and feed me to the trees
This is what I want done after my death. I have always had this irrational fear of being alive when buried or cremated. So being put in a warm tube with some grass and wood chips is a great option. Also I have had my living will, including death plan set up since I was around 25. Too many times have I seen family and friends stress out over what to do and costs of a funeral. Or even just what and who to do readings or what music. Just made sense. I actually just had to update it recently now that my child is no longer a minor.
I am starting my first job at a funeral home next week. Almost through with college. I can’t wait to get into Eco burial. You have truly inspired me since I was in middle school. I can’t wait to make a difference in the death industry. - from a nervous 22 yr old just trying to make it.
Congrats - you got this!! 🎉
Good luck. You got this.❤
Fantastic! Erica I’m glad to know that you are going to get into this field and modernize the funeral industry! Love ❤️ from Alberta Canada!
Congratulations..!!
You totally have this in the bag Erica... No fear ;)
I just wanted to comment to thank you for your videos. My dad had been so ill for so long and I started watching your videos to understand death and what happens after better to be more prepared. Because of you we were able to give my dad the death he wanted on 1/17, at home with his family, dogs, fav music playing. A beautiful death. Thank you for helping to destigmatize death and the process after. You're a beautiful soul.
😭😭😭😭😭😭 I am sorry for you lost. But what you did for him is beautiful.
Condolences for your loss. We're alive until the very last moment. So it's good to make every moment right up to the last the best it can be.
🖤
💖
i am so sorry for your loss. But at the same time, I am happy your father had a good death and that you were able to make that happen for him. I wish you all the best
All this talk about composting grandma made me want to thank you. My grandma died in our home a couple weeks ago, surrounded by family. The whole process was made much easier for me because of your videos. Thank you for all that you do ❤️
Caitlin I absolutely love your vids. I've been death positive for awhile but finding your videos has really increased my knowledge of different processes and normalizing talking about it. Thank you for all you do! :)
Thank you so much for fighting for this! My very death-averse sister actually told me the other day that she wants a green burial when she dies, and that's a big thing for her to be able to say!
As a New Yorker, I am extremely excited that the composting bill passed. If I can’t have a Viking funeral and become fish food, I would like to become plant food. It’s literally exactly what you said, if it’s not for you fine, but don’t tell me what’s not ok for me to do!
“If I cant have a Viking funeral.....”. Caitlyn: “hold my beer”.
@@kamwickw933 You will have to pry my warm Killian's Beer from my cold dead hand. They ( Beck and Hannity ) are simply hypocrites!
@@kamwickw933 That’s the dream 😂
I'm eagerly awaiting the hearing of this legislation in Texas. As a disabled woman in Texas who lives with the fact that my husband has more rights over what happens to my living body than I do, I really want to be composted when I die. So does my husband. You definitely have support in the population of Texas. I'm glad you're ready for a fight. I'm in a republican controlled area, so bothering my reps will do nothing. I'm stuck with two of the worst big names. Louie Goumert and Ted Cruz. I've written them so many times about different issues that they just send me the auto reply emails now. I sincerely hope you can get this passed. Best of Luck!!! ^_^
I do know there's a place in Texas that does water cremation if that helps? My husband and I were looking into it. His request is to simply throw him in the woods and raise a glass..... I'm trying to work out how to do that legally.
I don’t think bothering your reps is ever useless. Just because you’re getting an auto reply doesn’t mean they aren’t, listening, but quantity is more important than quality when it comes to constituents bothering their reps. Also, I strongly believe this is a non partisan issue. The people who I’ve heard advocate most strongly for human composting (not using those terms) have been republicans.
Farmers / ranchers compost livestock all the time, and say they want the same done to them. I hope they can have their wish.
Just think, spreading a farmer over his favorite, most beautiful field. Nourishing the ground he worked so hard on. Genuinely brings a tear to the eye.
Texan here too, I like this idea, better than cremations., but right now cremations is the only option.
Texan gal here too! I totally agree and feel your pain. I love the idea of being returned to the earth in this way and having my body contribute to an environment that benefited me my entire life. I hope we both get the right to choose to 💕
@@juanitadaniels7511, I looked into Texas laws about burying your deceased relatives on your own land. It is legal but I don’t remember the guidelines that must be followed. It isn’t as restrictive as I thought it would be.
Yay!! Human Composting! I love it!! I remember reading about this in Caitlin's book in the early days of the process. I am here for it!!😊
Thank you for your work in legalizing composting. I don’t plan on passing away anytime soon, but I am a NYer and want to go back to the earth when it’s time
Hey! Just thought I’d say, I’m going into the funeral industry because of you :) I’ve been watching your content since I was what…13, and you were so inspiring to me that since then, it’s been my career of choice! I’m now 19 and am planning to become a crematorium technician as soon as I’m able to. I don’t know if you’ll read this, I know you’ve got a lot on your plate, but thank you. Thank you for being such an inspiration, because of you I want to try and make a difference in the funeral industry :D
Heeeey! She's one of my "inspirations" as well! Haha, her vids have been such a help! I've even got a couple books too :)
My choice is solidified-
And I've known that since I was 5-ish years old! Persevere- Good luuuuck!
That's amazing! I hope she see this🤞🏼
That's honestly amazing, good luck with it all ❤
So great to know she inspired you
My Mom brought my sister and me to our family cemetery every year. We knew what was in that ground at the New Jersey cemetery from a young age. Also, grandma had what she considered a Jewish burial and what Caitlin would call a natural burial (just a shroud and a 100% wooden casket.) Caitlin would be so proud. ❤
My mum did the same. She now wants to be scattered in the "triangle" of these graves in the cemetery. Dad just wants to be with her.
@@frankiefranklin9761 aww. Although my parents haven’t written exact specific death plans, I’m 99% sure that Mom wants a Jewish burial and Dad wants literally anything as long as it’s next to Mom.
@@laurenconrad1799 that's what my grandparents have planned, I'm glad they had those conversations with us and have clear wills.
I also planned on this but then was convinced to donate my brain to Harvard for neuro studies & body for "parts" ‐ I've asked that my leftovers are composted however. XO
@@rowandoyle7 It’s also great that my family lives in a state where composting is now legal so we have yet another option available to us. Good luck to everybody in all the other states! ❤
Politicians talking about things they don’t know or understand. Thank you Caitlin, for setting things straight. I respect you.
As a pagan, the idea of contributing towards nature, legally (I was going to do something like this, regardless), really makes me feel a lot better. My wife and I have been talking about this stuff when the inevitable happens, and she showed me human composting because she knows me well enough to know I'd love it
@Dudemeister I truly hope you’re being sarcastic since the whole funeral industry is based in this country on christian personal beliefs.
@@artificialhumanist Religious freedom is finally coming to the country where it's always been a major, well-espoused, legal right.... on paper. Get used to it.
Also next time list some of those hypothetical things people should be "informed" about, before writing a mini-essay about nothing, m'lord.
@@artificialhumanist the constitution calls my people savages and forced us to conform to Christian beliefs. At one point it was illegal to practice our culture and speak our language. Funny how Christians think the narrative “freedom of religion” was actually practiced. It’s just sad how many disgusting Christian abusers didn’t face any repercussions for what they did in those boarding schools. I’m glad I’m the second generation to not go to these boarding schools but they have my older family brainwashed. I tell my religious family that I’m walking the red road. I’m decolonizing and practicing the spirituality of our ancestors rather than one that was forced and beaten into my elders. My culture is very matriarchal so it doesn’t make sense to cater to white patriarchy but it happens a lot
@@artificialhumanist Yep, it's a bot.
@@artificialhumanist didn’t read anything you said since it will be no help to me. I’ve been told by people of your faith that preserving my culture won’t get me in heaven. I’ve heard enough of what Christians have to say unwillingly because I was forced to attend church. It’s not my thing and I have my own spirituality that makes me feel closer to my ancestors. But you should know the constitution was made for white men. White men benefited from the slavery of black people and killing/ raping and taking land from natives. That’s messed up and there’s been no real repercussions
This is wonderful. I love the idea of becoming part of our ecosystem. That said, I will be donating my body to science, specifically the Osteopathic School in West Virginia. Being an only child with no children of my own, I decided on this route so as not to burden anyone. Also, it's free. I couldn't be a doctor this life, so I hope my body will help someone become a doctor in the next.
@Princesspuffer - I've read that when a medical school is finished with a donated body, it is cremated and returned to the family. Is this what the Osteopathic School does?
@@MossyMozart my uncle donated his body to the Anatomical Society. We requested he be buried at sea. We could have requested cremation but that's not what he wanted
@@MossyMozart It varies from one organisation to another, but many medical schools and other research orgs do offer to cremate the remains.
Careful about that. A grandmother donated her body to "science" and the science used her as a crash test dummy. Her family was horrified when they found out. But it was her final wish.
@@sboz86 A very good point, make sure you discuss with potential recipient organisations exactly what purposes your body may be used for, if there are things with which you are uncomfortable, then look to alternative recipients.
About a month before my mom died she started talking about what she wanted for her burial (she had always been against any talk of death, funerals... we should have known)
She wanted to be buried under a tree, no coffin, just allowed to become part of the soil. This was over 20 years ago, so that wasn't an option at the time.
This makes me happy that people have more options and rights with what happens with their body after death now.
Thank you for your dedication and advocacy. It's a lot of your time and commitment for all of us.