This week's edition of Earth Beat explores ways to make burials and cremations more environmentally sound. Common burials pollute the soil and don't allow the body to properly decompose, while cremations cast toxic substances into the atmosphere and use a lot of energy.

But starting next year, the world may have another option. It’s called Promession, and it breaks the body down into small pink crumbs of organic matter, which quickly becomes soil when buried in a shallow grave. It may sound unpleasant, but other than being eaten by animals, it's the best way to rejoin the circle of life.

The brains behind Promession is Swedish biologist Susanne Wiigh-Mäsak.

Listen to this week's Earth Beat in full to hear more about green burials.
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