It’s not often that you hear
of people in the funeral industry trying to be creative, but the designer Gerald Moline has managed to bring together the lovely idea of life after death and the not so pretty side of what happens to your body after death. Would you like the idea of having your remains grown into a tree after death? Potentially something different that leaves a more eco-friendly reminder of your life rather than a tombstone?

He has come up with the concept of a Bios Urn. It’s a biodegradable urn made from coconut shell, compacted peat and cellulose. Inside it, it contains the seed of a tree, one that you yourself can even choose, if you’re organised enough that is. Once your remains have gone into the urn, it gets planted, the seed germinates and your tree begins to grow! You can even use your own seed or tree clipping.

The way it works is that the top part of the urn is designed to allow a seed to sprout, but before burial you mix the components in the urn with some soil from where you want your tree to grow. The components will naturally blend together and aid in the germination of the seed.

The urn is divided into two sections. The upper part is a sealed unit to ensure the good condition of the seed until it begins to sprout, and the lower section is where the ashes are stored. Both compartments stay completely separate until the urn itself begins to degrade.

 With the way the Urn is designed it keeps the seed separate to your (or someone else’s) ashes until the urn itself begins to degrade. After the urn begins to degrade the entire set becomes part of the sub-soil and fertilizer the tree uses to grow.

What do you think? Would you prefer to leave a tree or a tombstone behind?