For my first installment, I will be discussing the idea of an eco-friendly burial, known as Capsula Mundi. After reading the section in Ecotopia discussing their fatalistic yet simplistic regard for death, and the idea of returning or being recycled by the earth reminded me of this concept.
There is a pleasant sense of fulfillment in the idea of coming full circle, returning to the earth from whence we have come. This concept is well-embodied in the creation of an environmentally sound burial method created by two Italian designers, a project affectionately called Capsula Mundi. Not only does this burial method address the spiritual aspect of death, but it is also practical and environmentally beneficial.

     Many highly populated urban areas face similar issues when it comes to the lack of space and sky-rocketing costs of city-dwelling. All over the world, people are confronted with the predicament of living in tightly packed micro-apartments that cost seemingly unreasonable amounts in order to be ensured a place to call home. And unfortunately, this issue does not disappear when we die. There is a rather finite amount of land available for cemeteries and other burial sites which causes the price for acquiring burial plots of increase dramatically. This of course makes funeral industry a very lucrative business, however it means that cities are limited on space to place their dead.
     Globally, over 50 million people die each year. It is predicted that by 2050, a majority of the Baby Boomers generation will dwindle down from 80 million to a mere 16 million, their deaths adding to the ever-present issue of limited burial space. In addition to the lack of space, the process of burial and all the effects that go with it accounts for tremendous amounts of carbon emissions and environmental hazards, including the cutting of trees to create caskets, embalming fluids that provide toxins, and the shipping of bodies across the country or even the globe.
And while cremation would seem to be a more inexpensive, and land conserving burial method, one cremation produces on average 540 pounds of carbon dioxide.

     In order to solve this rapidly rising issue, Italian designers Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel devised a new burial method that is not only practical and spiritually fulfilling, but also environmentally beneficial.
     The word Capsula Mundi comes from a Latin construction that reminds us that our bodies came from the earth and the transformations of our body between mineral, plant, and animal worlds.
Capsula Mundi substitutes the use of coffins with a biodegradable burial pod formed in the shape of an egg, a form that is related to perfection and life. The bodies of the deceased are arranged in the fetal position within the burial pods, while ashes are held in smaller pods. The biodegradable pod in then buried within the earth similarly to a large seed while a tree of the departed individual's choice is planted over it. As the pod degrades, the sapling will absorb the nutrients and will grow. As a result of this project, plots of burial ground becomes a lush forest, affectionately dubbed the Memory Forest, instead of a flat stretch of land filled with somber tombstones and weeping angels.
While these memory forests serve as a much more pleasant memorial for the deceased, they also allow humans to decrease our carbon footprint and create a more ecologically appropriate setting for wildlife.

     Death and burial rituals are very sensitive and difficult though death itself is so incredibly simplistic. The whole concept is centered around the preservation and remembrance of an individual. It is tempting to believe that in order to remember a deceased loved, they must endure the traditional means of burial, however, it is essential that we consider greener, more environmentally conscious methods of burial is order to not only preserve our dead but also our earth and embrace the idea presented in Ecotopia of being returned to the earth.