You can donate the The Body Farm--that's where I want mine to go. They use bodies to train law enforcement on solving murders.

I thought about the treepod deal but I fear they'd turn the paper into a bible.

@MaxPower Seems like your family could just buy a tree & mix your ashes with the backfill. Maybe add some peat moss to counter the high pH of the ashes.

@Carin when I can no longer benefit humanity and become a burden, I'll take my kids sailing, OD somewhere far enough that they will be legally required to dump me at sea. Other then shallow grave burial in the woods where I'm never found, I've found no way to benefit the planet, even the fuel for cremation produces more unnecessary co2 into the atmosphere.

I like you!

Same here.

Not fertilizer, all the nutrients will have evaporated.

@MaxPower

After Mt. Saint Helens erupted, Eastern Washington was covered in up to 2 feet of ash. Afterwards, fruit trees and wheat fields increased in growth.

@LiterateHiker in a way yes, mixed with rainwater the ph of the existing soil will have changed to benefit certain plants over others, just not fertilizer in that sense, it would also make the ph worse for whatever plants thrive in the current soil. I've thought about many options, I even asked the snap on tool company if they could use the carbon to make a special set of tools with my father's ashes. They still sit in his truck behind the seat.

@MaxPower Ashes are made of something & plants absorb all kinds of things. I believe you are mistaken that there is nothing for plants to absorb from ashes.

@Carin carbon, yes, nutrients, no. Go grab a cup of the best potting soil you can find, expose it to the (I forget the exact temp at the moment) 2000°-4000°f cremation conditions and try to grow anything that lives beyond the initial seed energy, I think the term is anaerobic environment. Even the treepods are encrusted with nutrients added by that company. It will change the Ph of the soil which will improve conditions for certain species. It's just carbon and trace minerals, minerals are not nutrients. I get that is not the poetic happily ever after grand finale but this is a forum based on logic over misinformation. Sorry, really.

@MaxPower Some minerals are indeed plant nutrients. Remember that plants are autotrophs & don't need what we need. I know plants can't grow in pure ash--that's why you have to mix them with soil. They can't grow in pure fertilizer either! This is what I studied in college so don't tell me what is not logical.

@Carin I know my way around a root network as well. All that's left after cremation is carbon, an element, I think I was mistaken in saying minerals and it should be trace elements like the radioactive one used to carbon-date ancient artifacts. I'm still under the impression that it can only change the Ph of the soil and make it better for some and worse for others.

@MaxPower Wikipedia: "Cremated remains are mostly dry calcium phosphates with some minor minerals such as salts of sodium & potassium. Sulfur & most carbon are driven off as oxidized gasses during the process, although a relatively small amount of carbon may remain as carbonate."

I was thinking there would be more potassium but after all, most ashes we deal with are burnt wood, not bone. Nonetheless, all the mentioned elements are essential plant nutrients. While they may not be in a form able to be immediately absorbed by roots, by mixing the ashes with good soil & compost, soil organisms large & small should eventually take care of that--& trees have plenty of time. I am sure that in a few years the tree will contain at least a little bit of what used to be a human.

@Carin interesting, when I looked up all that it was '14 I couldn't tell you where I got my info either. Carbon is able to withstand high temperatures as graphite. A salt is one metal element(sodium or potassium) combined with a liquid(chlorine). Salts are plants waste material so I'm not sure they would be reabsorbed? I'll be the first to admit I was wrong, I'm not sure how I was wrong but I'll look into that more.this has been an interesting conversation though.

Embalming would preclude some uses though. It also doesn't totally stop decay.

Sorry for your loss.

@freeofgod thanks. One I knew since I was 13, one 17, and a touch over a week ago one I'd known my whole life. Memorial is Saturday and I'm 1500 miles away from it. Right in the middle of packing up to move back there so can't attend.

The downside to life long friends is when they die it's as bad as losing a close family member.