Pablo Metz talks about re-earthing, or composting as it has sometimes been called, as “a movement”.
We have about 1,000 people in our friendship club who get involved, write letters to politicians, he says.
He is dressed in black from head to toe, a polo shirt and shiny boots, his long hair in a bun. And charismatic when he talks about his company Meine Erde, which offers re-earthing after death in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
We were first in Europe but we are seeing initiatives being started in different countries. It is already legal in 14 states in the US. It is not a question of if this will come or not – it is a question of when, he claims.
Meine Erde has three facilities with a total of seven cocoons, as they call them. There, the deceased are placed on a bed of straw and hay. The cocoon is then sealed and the process is carefully monitored.
After 40 days, during which the cocoon is gently rocked a few times a day to distribute the moisture, the body has been broken down by microorganisms and converted into soil. A machine sorts out metal scraps and skeletal parts are ground down and mixed with the soil.
So far, 60 people have been reburied in Meine Erde's cocoons, including Pablo Metz's own grandmother.
"Many people are tired of how regulated funerals are. They want more individuality, more control," he says.
“Have stood and lied”
Even in Sweden, voices are now being raised to change the law and allow new burial methods.
We have spoken to a priest who said: "We have been lying when we said 'from the earth you came, to the earth you shall return'. It is only now that it becomes true," says Helen Forsberg.
She is a funeral director and, together with her partner Madeleine Larsson, has started Jordatorium. The goal is to introduce re-earthing in Sweden.
Re-earthing does not burden nature, it enriches it by providing nourishment, says Madeleine Larsson.
She sees re-grounding as a possible solution to the lack of space in many cemeteries, and mentions, among other things, memorial forests – where trees can be planted in the soil created during re-grounding – instead of memorial groves. And most importantly: it should be for everyone, regardless of faith.
Grief and death don't have to do with religion, they have to do with us as people.
Legal change required
Today, only burial or cremation is permitted in Sweden – and cremation is by far the most common. Last year, 86 percent were cremated, according to statistics from the Swedish Cemetery and Crematorium Association.
To introduce a third burial alternative, a change in the law is required.
Funeral operations fall under the Ministry of Social Affairs and the issue has been raised there a couple of times, but I can't say that interest is very high, says Ulf Lernéus, director of the Swedish Authorized Funeral Homes.
The Green Party raised the issue at its congress in October – but voted against working to introduce re-earthing in Sweden. Jordatorium was not involved in that process.
However, the party decided to work towards a review of burial methods other than those approved in Sweden today.
Norwegian interest: Water intoxication
In Norway, things have gone further. The law was changed in 2022, opening up new types of burials, and the most buzz has been around what is known as water burial.
The body is then placed in a large drum where water heated to 170 degrees Celsius and alkaline ions are injected to lower the pH. After about three hours, the body has decomposed.
In Trondheim, they discussed introducing water burial but chose not to proceed, says Åse Skrøvset, head of funerals at the Norwegian trade organization Virke.
So for now we have no alternatives to burial and cremation in Norway.
It often becomes a financial issue, says Åse Skrøvset.
If you choose to buy a water funeral, you may not be able to afford the cremation furnace you need, and then you often choose the safe option, she says.
And the interest is simply not that great.
"I don't think there are that many people who go around actively thinking about what will happen to my body when I die. And then there's no pressure on the authorities to invest in alternatives," she says.
“Feeling optimistic”
But both Åse Skrøvset and Ulf Lernéus are positive about new alternatives being introduced.
It's really exciting that this discussion is being held, says Lernéus.
Madeleine Larsson and Helen Forsberg emphasize the environmental friendliness of re-earthing, including the avoidance of the climate-damaging coffin. But Pablo Metz does not believe that the environmental aspect is what attracts most to re-earthing.
Most people say it feels good. It feels optimistic in a way, you know something is continuing to grow. If you turn to ashes, it's instead "okay, it's over."
In 2022, the German state of Schleswig-Holstein became the first in Europe to allow so-called re-earthing in a pilot project.
After two years, Schleswig-Holstein decided on a change in law to enable the introduction of new burial methods in addition to burial and cremation. The change in law means that reburial as a new burial method can be investigated further.
A similar process and discussion is also underway in other federal states in Germany.
The soil resulting from the re-earthing can also be buried in the federal states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Hamburg.
Source: My Earth
In Sweden, cremation and burial are the only two burial options that are legal today, and it must take place within one month of death. After cremation, the ashes must be buried within one year.
Everyone registered in Sweden pays a funeral fee, which then covers, among other things, cremation, burial, burial plot for 25 years and transport to the burial. Other costs such as the coffin, tombstone and obituary are paid by the estate.
Members of the Church of Sweden also pay a church fee, which covers, among other things, the priest and church musicians.
Regardless of what kind of funeral you want – coffin burial or cremation, with or without a ceremony, and whether you want the urn to be buried or the ashes to be scattered in a memorial garden after cremation – the funeral can be held according to any religious order or civil. The Funeral Act states that the wishes of the deceased must be fulfilled as far as possible.
The most common in Sweden is a funeral according to the order of the Church of Sweden, or a civil ceremony.
Source: Swedish Tax Agency, Sweden's authorized funeral and legal offices
