http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2012/10/biodegradable-urns-use-human-remains-to-grow-trees.html "The eco-friendly Bios Urn...is a biodegradable urn made from coconut shells, compacted peat and cellulose. Inside the urn is a seed. Cremated human remains are placed into the urn alongside the seed and buried. As a good source of phosphorous, human remains help to fertilize the seed, which will eventually germinate and grow into a tree." Sign me up!
This is interesting. Earlier this month, I learned the the coast redwoods parks allow scattering of cremated remains, and I'm curious if they would ever make an exception for a biodegradable urn if the seed was something indigenous to the forest there. Becoming part of the forest seems nicer than aiming to be a street tree (nursery)
It'd have to be a very large seed to be capable of growing out from a deeply buried pot, something like a walnut. The seedling would also be subject to the same very low survival rates that any other natural seedling would have (due to browsing animals, poorly trained mower operators, etc., etc.). For the Redwoods, it would be more sensible not to include any seeds at all, just scatter the ashes for the existing trees.
