Manifesto for Sustainable Burial

Death is the event that allows us to displace all unknowability

into one moment. Without it our existence would be tormented
infinitely by a constant questioning of the unknown. The Manifesto for
Sustainable Burial proposes change in burial practice, making it
accessible and ecologically beneficial, and seeks to introduce new
perspectives on death and find ways to aid in the honoring of an
individual who has died and the Earth who has supported them.
Firstly, we must acknowledge how our current perception of death
and the traditional burial process attempts to deny natural
decomposition of the human body. We disrupt this process through
embalming and dressing or altering the natural state of the body for
visitation and ceremonial activities. We must come to accept the
decomposition of the body, although respect the time it takes for a
culture to (re)adapt to these realities. We must acknowledge our
actions are not ethical toward Earth and all she has provided us. When
a person passes, we must respect and honor the individual as well as
Earth, who made their existence in this life possible.
In understanding that there are deep rooted ideas in preserving
and presenting the deceased in such a way that denies their bodys
natural decomposition and seeks to present status and accomplishment,
we must find a way to contain this practice and displace it onto an
object that is not harmful to Earth and serves as a spiritual and
personal container for all emotion, honor and respect held for the
deceased. The solution to this dilemma is found in displaced
preservation1. Sculptures of organic or recycled material are made and
kept by those who are mourning, commemorating, and remembering a
deceased individual. The sculptures allow the acceptance of the bodily
decomposition of the deceased and process of natural burial and prompt
closure, honor and love to manifest without harming Earth. The
sculptures commemorate both the deceased and Earth and all her
resources that permitted the deceaseds existence.

1 A practice that accepts the physical decomposition of the body and displaces the cultural need to
preserve the body onto a relic or physical object.

Human Burial Canons2:

1. The family or close friends of the deceased should perform all burial
actions.
2. The deceased is stripped of all clothing and cosmetic material so that
they are completely naked.
3. Bodily material for the sculptures for displaced preservation are
taken from the deceased's body if needed.
4. Teeth that contain mercury should be removed from the deceased and
kept by the persons enacting the burial ritual.
5. Sculptures for displaced preservation are commissioned or made by the
family or friends of the deceased.
6. A site is excavated so that the body can be buried posteriorly.
7. The sculptures for displaced preservation should be present at the
time of burial, but concealed in a box or under a cloth.
8. The body is placed in the excavated site (a decomposable shroud is
permitted, but not required for burial).
9. The body is covered with the Earth that has been displaced at the site
and may be decorated with decomposable organic material.

2 These codes for burial are tailored for Earths sustainability, economic accessibility, spiritual
commemoration and displaced preservation.

We can no longer deny the reality that our bodies are a part of
natural, spiritual, interpersonal and systemic processes. The
decomposition of our bodies intersects with all these processes and
consequently, we must allow this process to occur. We must put aside
our cultural practices that continue the deterioration of Earth and
her resources and find ways to commemorate the dead that are
thoughtful toward the individual and sustainable and respectful for
Earth.
By displacing our grief and denial from a corpse that is buried
fully dressed and embalmed to a sculpture that holds spiritual and
honorary significance, we can commemorate the individual and Earth. By
choosing to bury the deceased in a natural and naked state, we can
commemorate the individual and Earth. These actions and respectful
mindsets will begin to translate into other practices.
Our burial, funerary, ceremonial and commemorative practices
reflect a profound relationship with the deceased, but we must now
accept that this relationship is only possible because of Earth and
her resources. Although the religions of the modern American public
lack a profound relationship with Earth, we must integrate her power
into our daily actions and deepest ceremonies. Sustainability of Earth
is not possible unless the culture adopts and understands the depth of
our dependency on her. Alternative burial is indeed a turn from the
traditional, but is essential in establishing a newfound and powerful
relationship with Earth.