New NJ law is one of the coolest, and creepiest, ever

I never met my paternal grandfather. He had been a coal miner and died from black lung at 45, before I was even a thought. Stories I heard about him indicate he had a rather gruff, indelicate way of putting things. Apparently, disgusted at the thought of expensive funerals, he used to jokingly suggest his family just “shove some bones in him and let the dogs bury him out back.”

More and more people are disillusioned with the funeral home business and the outrageous markups, and they’re turning against traditional expensive funerals.

A new burial concept

One burial concept, which just became legal in New Jersey and is set to begin this summer, is human composting. You can read more about it here.

It can cost about $7,000 and involves a six-month process of placing the body in a container with materials like wood chips and straw. Basically, you become a cubic yard of fertilizer. People like the idea of growing flowers or trees out of themselves, giving themselves over to nature and literally becoming part of it.

Creepy? That’s perspective. Cool? 100%.

While I may not personally choose it, it’s a viable option and long overdue here in the state.

More people today are opting for cremation, but even then, what’s done with the cremains is open to new possibilities. You can now add a loved one's ashes to tattoo ink and make them a permanent part of your body. Some are even having ashes turned into diamonds and wearing the deceased as jewelry. Was your uncle a huge Grateful Dead fan? Some have even had their loved one’s ashes pressed into a vinyl record.

I am all for this loosening of the norms. It’s your life, so it’s also your end of it. Go out bold, I say.