Californians will soon be able to turn their remains into soil with human composting | CNN
Composting now legal in CA, but will not go into effect for a few years
Composting now legal in CA, but will not go into effect for a few years
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Question of the Day, Saturday, April 8
- Thread starter Winchester
- Start Date
100% yes! I'm registered - Everything can go!
Except for my kidneys, because my kidneys are not the greatest
I don't think anyone receiving them would be quite happy!
I will need a transplant at some point in my life - and as someone who is part of the kidney support community, so many people I know have died waiting for a donor. I have also known others who committed suicide due to the pain and depression associated with the illness. Kidney disease kills more people in America a year than breast cancer and prostrate cancer combined. Imagine those who need a new heart, liver, lungs, eyes, skin, limbs etc
It is honestly really sad when people don't want to donate because "I caN'T dEcIdE wHo it GoEs to WhEn DecEaSed" And? Like? Who do you think it is going to? The local serial killer at the prison? It could go to someone's kid, a parent, a brother or a sister - an 18 year old teen with an illness or a victim of domestic violence who just got sprayed in the face by acid, who cares if they are strangers? You are already dead and rotting or powdered anyway. Imagine not wanting to volunteer at an animal shelter, donating food at a homeless establishment or donate money to any charity because you can't decide who it is going to specifically. It is saving someone's life, and most likely a genuinely good and normal person. And if any of my family members died and donated organs, I would feel touched knowing a part of them is still with us in this world.
I certainly hope people who make such a statement won't need an organ donor one day. Sorry if that sounds heated of me, of course everyone has the right to decide for themselves, but just have a really good think about it first about what you are really saying. And no not referring to anyone who have pre existing health conditions of their own of course, which is understandable.
Anyhoo, as for my corpse I really just want a natural burial if possible (No embalming, I don't really want my family to spend thousands of dollars just so my blood can be drained and jaw wired shut. Of course it would mean my funeral would be a quick happening since I don't want to be all stinky lol) my body wrapped in write linen, covered in light pink roses, in a simple wooden coffin, the ground along a lovely hillside cemetery overlooking a lovely view of nature. My tombstone a cute shape of a kitty with a cheeky quote on it.
Have no idea if it will happen but hey, a girl can dream!
Except for my kidneys, because my kidneys are not the greatest
I don't think anyone receiving them would be quite happy!I will need a transplant at some point in my life - and as someone who is part of the kidney support community, so many people I know have died waiting for a donor. I have also known others who committed suicide due to the pain and depression associated with the illness. Kidney disease kills more people in America a year than breast cancer and prostrate cancer combined. Imagine those who need a new heart, liver, lungs, eyes, skin, limbs etc
It is honestly really sad when people don't want to donate because "I caN'T dEcIdE wHo it GoEs to WhEn DecEaSed" And? Like? Who do you think it is going to? The local serial killer at the prison? It could go to someone's kid, a parent, a brother or a sister - an 18 year old teen with an illness or a victim of domestic violence who just got sprayed in the face by acid, who cares if they are strangers? You are already dead and rotting or powdered anyway. Imagine not wanting to volunteer at an animal shelter, donating food at a homeless establishment or donate money to any charity because you can't decide who it is going to specifically. It is saving someone's life, and most likely a genuinely good and normal person. And if any of my family members died and donated organs, I would feel touched knowing a part of them is still with us in this world.
I certainly hope people who make such a statement won't need an organ donor one day. Sorry if that sounds heated of me, of course everyone has the right to decide for themselves, but just have a really good think about it first about what you are really saying. And no not referring to anyone who have pre existing health conditions of their own of course, which is understandable.
Anyhoo, as for my corpse I really just want a natural burial if possible (No embalming, I don't really want my family to spend thousands of dollars just so my blood can be drained and jaw wired shut. Of course it would mean my funeral would be a quick happening since I don't want to be all stinky lol) my body wrapped in write linen, covered in light pink roses, in a simple wooden coffin, the ground along a lovely hillside cemetery overlooking a lovely view of nature. My tombstone a cute shape of a kitty with a cheeky quote on it.
Have no idea if it will happen but hey, a girl can dream!
I've been keeping up with the changes in US law and hoping the idea takes on in other countries. Maybe if I can live long enough until it's possible to do human composting in the UK it will happen.
Have you been watching Ask A Mortician's channel on YouTube? She's got a few videos about it.
Or maybe whole forests.
I think the age depends on the organ and the hospital it is done in. When my husband was waiting for his liver transplant his best friend offered to donate part of his. He was refused due to his age. He was barely out of his 50s.There is no age limit on becoming a living organ donor. I met someone who donated a kidney. Apparently it saved someone's life.
~ In the future we may have trees named after us ...
Everyone has to make their own mind up about donation, but I ask you to consider how you would feel if your loved one or you needed an organ? I have been there, sitting in ICU waiting to see if my husband was going to die.
~ When the medical students are done with me I will be stuffed with glitter confetti and smokeless gunpowder.
My cremation will be spectacular ..! 
My cremation will be spectacular ..! ~ I agree
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I’ve got a difficult mix of emotions on this and its hard to answer but I’ll be honest. I always thought I’d feel a measure of comfort knowing part of my relative lives on. But when that became reality; it was absolutely no comfort whatsoever. Our family still lost a child. Our family was still torn apart by grief. Its been 6 years and I’ve just seen some of those relatives for the first time since the funeral which itself was gut wrenching. I was so nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. It went well; but it could have been another setup for rejection and heartbreak.
Is part of me grateful other families were spared loss? Absolutely. But it didn’t negate the pain and trauma one bit. A distant cousin received a heart. My bestie got her own stem cells. So I’ve seen that side and the other.
So for myself; sure I think donating is a wonderful thing to do. But I never want my family in that position again. And that’s why its hard to give an answer.
Is part of me grateful other families were spared loss? Absolutely. But it didn’t negate the pain and trauma one bit. A distant cousin received a heart. My bestie got her own stem cells. So I’ve seen that side and the other.
So for myself; sure I think donating is a wonderful thing to do. But I never want my family in that position again. And that’s why its hard to give an answer.
I think it also depends on being a living donor. Bone marrow is also done with a living donor as would taking a kidney. As people get older their ability to recover without complications lessens. That Marine major did get a donation, not from anyone at work but he did get a donation. Unfortunately he didn't survive the procedure. A transplant was his only shot at extending his life and improving the quality of his life so it was worth trying.
I would like to donate my organs but at my age (73) and the fact that I smoked for 40 years I don't think anybody would want them. I want to be cremated and I told my family that I want my ashes to go over Niagara Falls.
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I struggle w/ this: what if my organs ended up in the body of a dictator? Or a cat hater? I admire greatly those above doing this but it’s such a leap of faith for me. I think I’d rather compost a tree, which will then hopefully capture carbon for all.
Yep, whatever they can use. Not like I'll have any use for it.
You have to die in a very specific way for your major organs to be useful, but they can more often use skin, corneas, and blood vessels. Even if you're old.
You have to die in a very specific way for your major organs to be useful, but they can more often use skin, corneas, and blood vessels. Even if you're old.
Unlikely in the US. They screen recipients pretty hard.
I really have difficulty dealing with this..Fair enough skin for burn victims and other stuff for accidents but things like lung transplants and others,..living life on anti rejection drugs..fear that simple flu can kill you..god knows how many transplant people died from covid.with low imunity so they dont reject transplants....Doctors playing God..i just dont know...
My co-worker's dad had a liver transplant. He died last year (not sure if related to the anti-rejection drugs) but the transplant bought him a good 5 extra years with his grandkids. It's not perfect but it's better than nothing.
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Even if you die in the hospital there are no guarantees. My dad said no one even asked him about organ donation for my mom. Her heart and lungs probably weren't good, but it would have been nice if we could have given something.
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No. I wouldn’t have anything usable.
According to polls, most people are hoping to die peacefully in their own beds, preferably in their sleep - in which case there is little chance of donating any major organs, even if they have registered as organ donors.
A local couple who gave permission for their son's heart to be donated after a motorcycling accident feel comforted knowing that at least someone else was given the chance to benefit from his death. On the other hand, another couple still regret not being able to allow their much younger child to die peacefully and to pay their respects in a dignified manner. For them, it is no consolation knowing that "they did the right thing!"
I will leave the final decision to my family. If I am being kept alive by some machine in hospital, it will be no big deal letting them take anything they want. If however, I am dying surrounded by family, and nobody wants the hastle of organising the removal of spare parts as soon as my brain is pronounced dead, then it is also OK.
I am talking a load of rubbish - I am far too old and everything about me is deteriorating!
Though my teeth are still remarkably strong!
A local couple who gave permission for their son's heart to be donated after a motorcycling accident feel comforted knowing that at least someone else was given the chance to benefit from his death. On the other hand, another couple still regret not being able to allow their much younger child to die peacefully and to pay their respects in a dignified manner. For them, it is no consolation knowing that "they did the right thing!"
I will leave the final decision to my family. If I am being kept alive by some machine in hospital, it will be no big deal letting them take anything they want. If however, I am dying surrounded by family, and nobody wants the hastle of organising the removal of spare parts as soon as my brain is pronounced dead, then it is also OK.
I am talking a load of rubbish - I am far too old and everything about me is deteriorating!
Though my teeth are still remarkably strong!
So much of medicine is about both extending and improving quality of life. With transplants even with the anti-rejection drugs and weakened immune system there is an improvement in quality of life. Advances in medicine come very fast now. Buying a little more time could keep someone alive until the next breakthrough.
I'm still in my twenties so I haven't thought about this yet but I think I'd like to.
