Author Topic: Is veganism a threat to the planet? * contentious * (Read 31404 times)

arobwk · « **Reply #105 on:** February 23, 2020, 04:55:09 pm »

Quote from: Fleecewife on February 16, 2020, 11:56:51 pm

Quote from: arobwk on February 16, 2020, 10:11:05 pm
On the interesting subject of what to do with our bodies - rather than the boring subject of veganism - a US company is preparing to offer a human body composting service !!

Surely burial is simpler and doesn't require big composting chambers, heat, fuel etc, just a hole in the ground and Nature does the rest?

But burial just serves the local worms and any nearby junipers !
Not sure what the rules would be for using human body compost for plantings/mulching (compared to, say, humanure compost), but I do trust they will rattle out our bones before bagging up.

[ If the trend for micro gin distilleries keeps going, watch out for scrumping of juniper berries from your local cemetery any time soon ! ]

arobwk · « **Reply #106 on:** February 23, 2020, 09:33:30 pm »

Quote from: Scarlet.Dragon on February 23, 2020, 06:05:01 pm

Quote from: arobwk on February 16, 2020, 10:11:05 pm
On the interesting subject of what to do with our bodies - rather than the boring subject of veganism - a US company is preparing to offer a human body composting service !!

I have it written into my will that I'm to be fed to the pigs (i.e. properly recycled). My lawyer wasn't happy with it, and apparently it isn't currently legal but if we really want to save the planet we need to think differently. Why would it be ok for us to eat an animal but not ok for them to eat us? Cremate me and I contribute to unnecessary waste of fuel and emissions; bury me and I'm taking up space that could be put to better use; chuck me in a ditch and I'll contaminate the water... feed me to the badgers or pigs and I'll be wholly recycled and have contributed something useful to the ecology lifecycle... and if you don't want to eat the pig that ate me, then feed me to a breeding boar and eat the offspring rather than the primary consumer!

Ooo and umm - it's one way to go, but who are you expecting to dump your body into the "pig trough" and walk away to go brew up a cuppa while they wait for the piggies to do their thing before going back to retrieve the bony bits ??!!

Fleecewife · « **Reply #107 on:** February 23, 2020, 10:13:46 pm »

Quote from: Scarlet.Dragon on February 23, 2020, 06:05:01 pm

Quote from: arobwk on February 16, 2020, 10:11:05 pm
On the interesting subject of what to do with our bodies - rather than the boring subject of veganism - a US company is preparing to offer a human body composting service !!

I have it written into my will that I'm to be fed to the pigs (i.e. properly recycled). My lawyer wasn't happy with it, and apparently it isn't currently legal but if we really want to save the planet we need to think differently. Why would it be ok for us to eat an animal but not ok for them to eat us? Cremate me and I contribute to unnecessary waste of fuel and emissions; bury me and I'm taking up space that could be put to better use; chuck me in a ditch and I'll contaminate the water... feed me to the badgers or pigs and I'll be wholly recycled and have contributed something useful to the ecology lifecycle... and if you don't want to eat the pig that ate me, then feed me to a breeding boar and eat the offspring rather than the primary consumer!

Humans rarely eat carrion, so perhaps pigs wouldn't be all that keen to eat you either. Rather like the vultures supposed to eat the human bodies left out for them - apparently they balk at the tough old ones and leave them to mummify in the sun. I'm sure if death were not such a taboo topic then we could work out a much better and more efficient, earth friendly way to dispose of the dead.

Buttermilk · « **Reply #108 on:** February 24, 2020, 09:22:02 am »

Quote from: Scarlet.Dragon on February 23, 2020, 06:05:01 pm

Quote from: arobwk on February 16, 2020, 10:11:05 pm
On the interesting subject of what to do with our bodies - rather than the boring subject of veganism - a US company is preparing to offer a human body composting service !!

I have it written into my will that I'm to be fed to the pigs (i.e. properly recycled). My lawyer wasn't happy with it, and apparently it isn't currently legal but if we really want to save the planet we need to think differently. Why would it be ok for us to eat an animal but not ok for them to eat us? Cremate me and I contribute to unnecessary waste of fuel and emissions; bury me and I'm taking up space that could be put to better use; chuck me in a ditch and I'll contaminate the water... feed me to the badgers or pigs and I'll be wholly recycled and have contributed something useful to the ecology lifecycle... and if you don't want to eat the pig that ate me, then feed me to a breeding boar and eat the offspring rather than the primary consumer!

When people have left their bodies to hounds the only way round the law is to cremate the person and then feed the ashes.

Polyanya · « **Reply #109 on:** February 25, 2020, 09:31:20 am »

Surely people aren't leaving their bodies for hounds - you are kidding right?

Old Shep · « **Reply #110 on:** February 27, 2020, 06:41:46 pm »

Still on the "bodies" subject, I met someone last year who is working with a company on dissolving bodies rather than cremation, a much more environmentally friendly option. Apparently it will happen!

arobwk · « **Reply #111 on:** February 27, 2020, 10:41:34 pm »

Quote from: Old Shep on February 27, 2020, 06:41:46 pm

Still on the "bodies" subject, I met someone last year who is working with a company on dissolving bodies rather than cremation, a much more environmentally friendly option. Apparently it will happen!

Dissolving with what ??

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #112 on:** February 28, 2020, 08:16:53 am »

One problem [member=132794]Scarlet.Dragon[/member] - I doubt any of us is fit to enter the food chain :/

Fleecewife · « **Reply #113 on:** February 28, 2020, 11:38:44 am »

Yes, pigs don't leave much behind - just the wellies maybe?

Feeding humans, especially already dead ones therefore likely to have been ill, and to a closely related species such as the pig, would raise all sorts of problems for spread of disease. We can see from China just how easy it is to fascilitate the evolution of cross species epidemics and even pandemics just by living too closely with those animals, and eating them is just asking for trouble. Exposure to birds of prey and wild scavengers might be more acceptable, and would help those species to prosper (unless the 'body' died of bird 'flu!)