Unfortunately, we all experience death at some point. When this happens, we think about one of three things -- burial, cremation or donation to science. In this day and age, however, people have gone above and beyond to create different ways to remember and honor the ones that they loved. Your loved ones can...
1. Wear a mushroom suit
If your loved one loved the earth and the environment and nature, then put their body in a mushroom suit when you go to bury them. The mushroom suit has mushroom spores all over it, so when it's wrapped around a body, it increases the body's biodegradability and turns it into mushrooms. That way they will be helping the earth even in death!
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2. Get screwed... in the ground
Instead of getting put in a casket for a normal burial, put your loved one in a screw and let them get screwed in the ground. It saves time, money and space! Instead of lying on the ground, stand on the ground!
3. Become a mummy
Live (or die) like the Egyptians! Summum is a company that can help mummify your loved ones so they can be just like King Tut. A cool mask is included, but the pyramids and lost tombs are not.
4. Freeze until the next time science advances
We've seen the TV shows where the cavemen get thawed out in the future after being encased in ice from the ice age. Technically, your loved one can do the same. With the help of Cryonics, your loved one who recently passed away can be indefinitely preserved in liquid nitrogen temperatures until science has come up with a way to bring people back to life.
5. Give alms to the birds
When I think of medieval-times, I think of throwing corpses into the woods and letting the wild animals have them. I didn't really think that it was still something that people did, but apparently it is. Or at least, there's a variation of it that's called "jhator," or "giving alms to the birds." It's a sky burial that is typically done in Tibet and parts of Mongolia. The ritual involves cutting the body up and leaving it in the wilderness for birds and animals to feed on.
6. Go through plastination
To get right down to it, you're basically filling a body with plastic. That, in turn, preserves the body and turns it into a toy. If you don't want the body to hang out at your house at night, you can donate it to a museum called Body Worlds. Body Worlds will go through the plastination process and will then put the body out on display for all to see. Who knows what crazy position they'll put it in.
7. Live among the fish in a reef
For some, their wish is to be tossed over board or scattered in the ocean because of their love for water. Instead of doing that, use your loved one's ashes to help the sea creatures! Eternal Reefs is a company that will take your loved one's ashes and put them into a reef ball, which are designed to look and act like reefs. Over time, sea life will move in and grow on the reefs.
8. Become fertilizer
Through a process done by a company called Promessa, your loved one's body can be made into fertilizer. The body will be frozen in liquid nitrogen and then broken up through vibrations and then dispersed into the ground. It is even suggested that a plant be placed on top of the burial site so your loved one's fertilizer can help it grow!
9. Plant a tree
More like, become a tree. Spiritree is a company that will put your loved one's ashes into a two-part biodegradable urn. It's one part ashes and one part seedling or sapling. As the tree grows, the urn will eventually break and the ashes and the tree become one.
10. Turn into pencils
In case you were wondering, one human body can make up to 240 pencils. So if your loved one really enjoyed writing or drawing, you could have their ashes be made into pencils. The pencils come in a box where you can only take one pencil at a time. And, just so you won't lose their remains, the box also has a built-in sharpener. When you've used all of the pencils, the box that once held them becomes an urn.
11. Become a paperweight
If you really think about it, that's what we are now. We're paperweights with a purpose. But if you want to remember your loved one without having a framed photo of them, get their ashes made into a paperweight. It can sit on your desk and continue to have a purpose. Let them continue to help you in life, one paper at a time. Plus, it'll be made out of glass, so it'll remind you that life is fragile. Prices start at £150 ($213.66).
12. Live on as time
Whether we like it or not, time is always ticking. We all have a tendency to waste time, as precious and valuable as it is. Nothing would serve more as a harsh reminder as putting the ashes of your loved one in an hourglass. In The Light Urns is a company that will put ashes into hourglass shaped urns. Prices are $329.95.
13. Live in someone's skin
There are plenty of people out there who get memorial tattoos for the ones that they have lost and want to do something in honor of their memory. But, instead of getting regular ink in your skin, make it even more special by putting them into your skin as well. There aren't very many tattoo shops that do this, but if you find one that does, they will take the ashes and get a pile of the refined dust. From there, they mix it in with the ink. You know what happens next.
14. Become your favorite music
If your loved one was a music lover, And Vinyly can press their ashes into a custom vinyl record. There can be up to 24 minutes of audio, and it should be supplied by the person requesting the vinyl. The audio can be a song (or two or three), a recording, or just pure silence. Covers of the vinyls are custom and will be painted with a paint/ash mixture. It will also include their name, date of birth and date of death. Prices start at £3,000 ($4,273.20).
15. Get put inside a teddy bear
Everyone loves teddy bears. After your loved one gets cremated, you can put their ashes inside a teddy bear instead of an urn. The Eddy Bear Company makes it so you can hug them once again. If you don't have ashes to put inside of the bear, you can also send them a small treasure or keepsake to put inside. It can be customized in any way from the bear type, font style and embroidery color. Prices start at $149.95.
16. Shine bright like a diamond
You know how engagement rings are sometimes passed down in families? "This used to be my grandmother's ring," can now be, "This used to be my grandmother." LifeGem is a company that turns your loved ones ashes (or hair) into a uniquely cut and colored diamond. How? Diamonds are made from carbon, and humans hold about 18.5 percent of carbon in them. With a little bit of applied heat, pressure and time, diamonds are born. Prices start at $2,490.
17. Always find a way with a GPS
Instead of using headstones to find where people are buried in a burial park in Sydney, Australia, they use a GPS signal instead. When the bodies are buried, they are buried with a GPS device inside their coffin. So, whenever you want to go visit your loved one, or if you want to see if the dead are walking, you'll always know where they are.
18. Get put into bullets
If you come from a line of hunters, you can put your loved one's ashes into a case of bullets. My Holy Smoke will help you figure out what cartridges and what gauges to get. You can get 250 shotgun shells, 100 rifle cartridges, or 125 pistol cartridges.
19. Become a fireworks display
If your loved one lived a life worth celebrating, Heavens Above Fireworks can help you send them off the way they deserve. They take the ashes of your loved one and they mix it in with the other stuff that makes up a firework. The fireworks can then be set off by you or they can be set off professionally for a memorial display. Heavens Above provides several different packages to choose from, the cheapest being £950 ($1,353.18).
20. Get shot into space
Have your loved one become one with the stars! You can send them on a space mission or send them out for good -- then you can know that every time you look up into the sky they're out there. Celestis is a company that can help you complete your mission to give your loved one one last goodbye. They provide four different options, ranging from a casual space flight with a return to earth, being shot into earth's orbit, the lunar orbit, or deep space with no return. Prices start from $1,295 and can go up to $12,500.
