YOUTREE

Photography by Denise Blasor

CONSIDER the following: you live your life, you die, you become a tree.

It's simple. Thanks to the biodegradable urn, we can all become
trees when we die. In fact, if a lot of people were to be buried in
biodegradable urns in the same place we could have whole
forests of tree people. The idea might seem amusing yet it' s
actually quite romantic. However much we dislike thinking, let
alone talking about death, the harsh fact is that sooner or later
each one of us will disappear from the planet. Leaving a tree
behind seems like a wonderful and useful legacy.

First introduced by Spanish designer Martín Azúa but reimagined
by other designers as well, the biodegradable urn is made from

Photo by Juliette Blasor

materials that easily decompose such as coconut shell, compacted peat, and cellulose. Ashes are stored inside the urn along with a small tree seed. Once the urn is planted in the soil, the seed will begin to grow with help from the ashes whose phosphorus content acts as a fertilizer for trees, according to Wikipedia, which offers one caveat:  ashes raise the pH of soil so not all plant choices are ideal.

One attractive biodegradable urn currently on the market is Gerard Moliné's Bios Urn. It is available at urn-cremation.com at a cost of 137 euros (the company ships worldwide). Notes the website: "Bios Urn transforms the burial ritual in a regeneration and return to life through nature. As a result, cemeteries become forests."  Long live trees!

www.urn-cremation.com

Photography by Juliette Blasor

                  

                  In a cool solitude of trees

         Where leaves and birds a music spin

             Mind that was weary is at ease

             New rhythms in the soul begin.

                 

                   William Kean Seymour

                     "The Cats of Rome"

                       

THE GREEN KITCHEN

If you are ready to dispense with plastic in the kitchen and start
using more environmentally-friendly alternatives, Marshalls is a good
place to visit. The store at stop 15 in San Juan has brought in
a shipment of very attractive ceramic colanders that are perfect
for rinsing vegetables or produce as well as draining spaghetti.
There are also ceramic measuring cups and glass jars
perfectly suitable for food storage, whether cooked or dry.
Under $15.

Photography by Denise Blasor

Love is an irresistible desire
to be irresistibly desired.
-- Robert Frost

©Lorraine Blasor,2013  All rights reserved♥