Cremate, people.

[Goodheart]

Cremate people.

Are we talking about dignity for the dead?

Let me tell you a sad story....

Somebody very close to me died, and the eulogy was very nice.... but THEN...

We travel out to some mausoleum and his body (inside a coffin, of course) is pushed into a drawer about five rows up.... so high that the attending pastor had to use a ladder next to the coffin.

How is it dignified, pray tell, to have your body stuffed into a drawer?

I can see, maybe, the beauty in lowering your body into the ground and then covering it with earth... but a DRAWER? And somebody paid good money for that drawer space.

How much more beautiful would it have been to toss the ashes to the wind? A WHOLE LOT MORE, that's what.

[hlthe2b]

1. The whole burial thing is so extremely costly, we'll see more cremations frankly because there isn't

a lot of choice for many people.

Burning to death would be among the worst ways to die, so perhaps people get caught up in that imagery or maybe it is old religious dogma that gives them pause. But, once you are dead, you are dead and it hardly seems an issue at that point, right?

[lark]

4. I want to be cremated, then have the ashes buried in my yard with a camellia bush planted over me.

That way I will still be fertilizing flowering plants as I have done my entire life. My husband wants his ashes thrown off the dock where he goes fishing sometimes. A regular burial in a coffin is so wasteful, we decided in our 20's that was not what we wanted and still hold to that now that we are in our 60's. We have got to get a will and put that in, but both of our children know & support our wishes and have agreed to make sure this happens.

[tavernier]

32. I read a book on cremation once. Ashes are not recommended to be used in gardens

because the salt content is too high and the roots will die. Just FYI.

[lark]

37. Oh no!!!

Damn. I've wanted to do that for most of my adult life, but guess I'll have to pull up my big girl pants and think of something different.

Double damn, I hate giving up on that, but I will have to.

[CTyankee]

40. I have a friend who wants his ashes thrown into the Long Island Sound. I am guessing that

is legal (I didn't ask if he checked on that). Don't know about an inland body of water. You might check that out if you have an interest.

[lark]

43. Damn, since the St. Johns empties into the ocean, guess I'll have to see what the rules are for that

Everything is so damn complicated today groused this old irritable woman. Hopefully my attitude improves as my pain from surgery diminishes & I regain my life.

[CTyankee]

48. I hope you will be back good as new very soon!

I keep losing body parts to surgery and will be entering my 80s sooner than I want.

St. John's, which I have visited, sounds like an excellent choice of burial. Your family can have a beautiful place to remember you by.

[dumbcat]

73. My mother wanted her ashes spread in the Hudson River

I was told that was illegal, but I don't know for sure.

I also heard that it was illegal in New York to be burred on your own private land, but that doesn't sound right to me.

[leftieNanner]

83. No lakes or streams

When we had my parents cremated, they told me the only allowed body of water is the ocean. We sprinkled them both in a hole in the mountains. Only when we opened Dad's bag, his replacement hip was in there. My sister and I had a good laugh about keeping it in case either one of us might need it in the future. For a discount, of course. Mom and dad would have laughed too they were nothing if not frugal.

[demigoddess]

127. i would like to be buried and a tree planted on top of me so as I rot, I feed the

tree. Without casket, of course. Cremated is my second choice but don't want my ashes thrown in the ocean or a lake. Made into a concrete block, if it is bad to put your ashes under a tree or bush. At least we can be made into houses, patios or roads. Would rather grow a tree though.

[lark]

131. That is really the first choice of both me and my husband.

We were told it was illegal here, but do intend to research it further. If possible we will do that since it's even better for fr environment and for growing a flowering bush/tree.

[Ms. Toad]

132. You just have to skip the cremation step

https://funerals.org/?consumers=green-burial

[mountain grammy]

140. So my sister in law says.. she's spent her whole life

trying to stay out of hell and thinks cremation is the equivalent.. Yeah, she's a evangelical trumper.

Me personally? I think it should be the law.

[MineralMan]

2. I agree.

This past weekend, my wife and I traveled to South Dakota to bury part of her mother's and father's ashes in the cemetery where her mother's parents are buried. It's a church cemetery, and they allow families to do that at no charge. We were met by the cemetery caretaker, who had shovels and a board to hold the dirt. I dug a neat square hole, after removing a square of sod, using those tools, and then we placed the small urn in it.

Her ashes are already at the Fort Snelling national cemetery with her late husband's. We retained some of the ashes for an additional sprinkling in Norway by my wife's sister, who is traveling there next year. Cremation lets family members place part of the remains in different places that were important to the deceased person.

[EarnestPutz]

38. This is, to me, another great example of how funerals and the question of what to do with the body,,

....is a personal question and we should just let people make their own decisions. I've always been a proponent of cremation, MineralMan, and think scattering the ashes is perfectly fine, better actually than putting a decorative urn on the mantle. But (my opinion only) dividing the ashes up as a commodity and using them in different ways seems wrong to me. I recognize that this may make no sense, but like I said at the onset, it really is personal.

Here in Washington State we now have, or soon will have, the option of Composting the remains (seriously) which I joked about twenty years ago when my mother, the gardener, died. When the process is finalized here (there needs to be some kind of regulations) I think that I'll sign up.

[yonder]

110. Yes, I've been paying attention to that Washington St. idea.

Here's Lee Hays (of the Weavers) version:

In Dead Earnest

By Lee Hays

If I should die before I wake,
All my bone and sinew take:
Put them in the compost pile
To decompose a little while.
Sun, rain, and worms will have their way,
Reducing me to common clay.
All that I am will feed the trees
And little fishes in the seas.
When corn and radishes you munch,
You may be having me for lunch.
Then excrete me with a grin,
Chortling, “There goes Lee again!”
Twill be my happiest destiny
To die and live eternally.

Copyright 1981 Lee Hays.

[EarnestPutz]

146. They used to say that crazy old hippies like me wanted to .....

.....go "back to the earth" and this seems to be the ultimate goal.

[Farmer-Rick]

3. Cremation ashes are not so easy to just throw off into the wind.

First if they sit for any length of time, they become like a brick due to absorption of humidity. Second there are regulations to where you can throw or put the ashes. You can't just decide to throw them off into the Grand Canyon. Some places require permits and authorizations.

But yes burial are outrageously expensive.

[Goodheart]

9. Who's going to stop you? I doubt there's a cremation ash patrol. :)

[Bengus81]

11. There is at Disney Land...........

[Midnightwalk]

22. Anywhere but Disney Land

You’ll spend eternity on line and never get to heaven.

[LuvNewcastle]

109. That could be an attraction at Disneyland.

They could have a big dust pit for people to throw their ashes into. Charge them $50 apiece. Have a hologram of Jiminy Cricket singing 'When You Wish Upon A Star' out there throwing stardust up into the sky. You know, something really tasteful.

[Farmer-Rick]

41. Yeah, but do you really want to send your loved one off into a place they are NOT wanted?

Yes, they are only ashes but if you have a ceremony or something, then you don't want to be interrupted by the Park Police or Ranger.

But you can also bury a person on your property without permits and authorizations too. I doubt anyone would stop you especially if you have a big farm like I do, or you bury them late at night. You can even bury a body in your basement without anyone finding out....at least for a long while.

[Codeine]

77. I don't know what you think you saw

but I was just doing some basement renovation work.

Scout’s Honor.

[Farmer-Rick]

82. You made my day

[progressoid]

33. Ask the Dude.

[yonder]

102. Great scene from a great movie.

[aikoaiko]

124. I've told my wife I want to be cremated.

No coffin. Just dress me in some outfit and let me lie on a slab if people want to do some kind of ceremony. Cover me if I end up a mess when the final day comes.

Spend as little as possible on my corpse.

[JDC]

128. RIP Donny

[former9thward]

46. Yes, you can throw them into the Grand Canyon.

Assuming you don't go to some ranger and ask permission no one is going to stop you. Or care. Hundreds of thousands of animals shit in the Grand Canyon everyday and ashes are not any more harmful than that.

[Farmer-Rick]

49. Ok, ok, I call uncle

Go ahead and throw human remains anywhere you want. Just don't bury them in my basement.

[peggysue2]

68. Which is exactly where my ashes will be spread

My oldest son, a dedicated hiker, has already chosen the spot once I indicated that a Grand Canyon site would be perfect.

For me cremation makes sense. The world and land is for the living. Why use up precious, finite resources for rotting corpses? Purify me by fire then return me to the air, the sea and/or the earth from whence we all came.

Recycling at its best.

[Farmer-Rick]

129. Well good

But you can recycle people just fine buried in a basement too.

[peggysue2]

137. LOL!!

That sounds far less agreeable, Farmer-Rick. Something a serial-killer might do.

[mahina]

86. You cant just toss them out the

Helicopter on the golf course or they could end up landing on a group of alarmed golfers on Oahu Country Club golf course for instance.

[genxlib]

5. I agree

Don't even get me started on open casket funerals and putting make-up on dead people.

[llmart]

12. And the next of kin having to hear...

"Doesn't he/she look good?"

That one always floored me. Look good??? The person is dead.

I've told my children that I'll come back to haunt them if they put me on display after I'm dead. They have strict instructions to cremate and dispose of my ashes at the river.

[genxlib]

16. Yes

I have very distinct memories of my aunt saying that about my Grandfather ~35 years ago.

Creeped me out and I had to bite my tongue from saying exactly what you said.

[nolabear]

93. I on the other hand got a huge laugh at my great aunt's viewing

Southerners love to look on the dead for some reason. But when my Great Aunt Jewel died I watched a couple of old friends gazing thoughtfully down at her and nearly lost it for good when one said. “Don’t she look funny with her mouth closed?”

Couldn’t ask for a better memorial. 😄

[llmart]

100. Oh my, that is hilarious!

[malaise]

122. ROFL

[Grammy23]

145. When my aunt died, her body was prepared for viewing at the funeral home.

She was 61 and had lived most of her life with her mom after a very brief marriage. My Granny always said they lived like sisters since she had her when she was about 16.

So before the viewing started another aunt (her sister-in-law) took a quick look to make sure she looked okay. After a glance she came out looking for the funeral director to demand they remove some of the lipstick. Aunt Blanche looked fabulous but nothing like she usually looked. She was tarted up like a showgirl with plenty of blush on her cheeks and ruby red lips. My other aunt told the funeral director that Granny would be upset to see her daughter looking like a Vegas Showgirl so they needed to tone it down a bit. LOL.

So they removed the red lipstick and put on something more dusty pink. And powdered her cheeks so they were less rosey. Granny was good with that and everything went forward from there. Her hair, by the way, was a faint shade of reddish pink, but that was the color she typically used....a rinse of some kind over her gray hair. Nothing needed to be done about that. I guess my aunt was ahead of the times with pinkish hair. That was in 1965.....these days she’d fit right in. LOL

[malaise]

6. The cheapest disposal is donating your body to a medical school/hospital n/t

[yesphan]

31. My mother

and sister went this way and I too have donated my bod to the University.

[malaise]

35. Good for them

Makes the most sense

[StarryNite]

61. 'Frankenstein' Science Facility

But that could go terribly wrong too...

Woman's Head Sewn Onto Man's Body Discovered at 'Frankenstein' Science Facility
News
By TooFab Staff | July 26, 2019 8:32 AM

"Phoenix FBI special agent Mark Cwynar described the "various unsettling scenes" he witnessed during the 2014 raid, AZ Central reported.

He described finding a bucket of heads, arms and legs, and "pools of human blood and bodily fluids were found on the floor of the freezer."

They also found "infected heads", and most disturbingly of all, mismatched body parts sewn together "like Frankenstein".

In an earlier report by Reuters examining America's body trade, it claimed agents discovered ten tons of frozen human remains – 1,755 total body parts that included 281 heads, 241 shoulders, 337 legs and 97 spines.

It took 142 body bags to haul away the remains, with one sack containing parts from at least 36 different people."


[link:https://toofab.com/2019/07/26/womans-head-sewn-onto-mans-body-discovered-at-frankenstein-science-facility/|

[malaise]

64. I don't give a damn who does what

to my rotting remains.
Hundreds of years from now (or less), some developer will cart off our old rotten bones to a dump somewhere so he/she can build homes, a mall or some thing else on a burial ground. Dead is dead - just my view.

[Mariana]

75. That is exactly how I feel about it.

Cremation can be steep, too. When my mother in law died, I told my husband to shop around for cremation prices, and he was glad he did. The price varied wildly, with one place charging about four times as much as another. What a scam.

[Codeine]

78. Thank you!

I’m amazed by the amount of vitriol that stuff can cause — dead is dead, and you’re just awkward, difficult-to-dispose-of meat after that. They can do as they will for I shall be past caring.

[malaise]

90. Way past caring

That's the truth

[eppur_se_muova]

85. I feel the same. If nothing else, use it for cat food, if that's medically safe.

Afterwards, arrange the bones in a pose from the Kama Sutra and leave them as a puzzle for future archaeologists.

[malaise]

89. ROFL

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

126. I probably will be cat food. As my decrepitude increases,

I will be at greater risk of falling down my rather steep stairs, and at some point that will probably happen and my cats will eat me. So it goes.

[StarryNite]

98. I wouldn't care for myself however,

I sure wouldn't want my kids to find out I was "Frankensteined". Just as I wouldn't want to have had that happen to my parents or a child or really not to anybody. The last person it matters to is the one that's dead, but the ones they leave behind...I'm thinking that's not good...but that's just me. As for me, my body won't rot, I'm being cremated and it's already been set up and paid for so my kids won't be stuck with having to make any decisions or arrangements. Oh, and NO FUNERAL! I'm not a funeral person. Ack!

[csziggy]

108. In Florida, you have to pay for preparation and transport to the facility

That can use it. The preparation is some kind of special treatment to prolong the usefulness of the body to the medical schools. But if I died in Tallahassee, I would have to pay for my body to be transported to Gainesville since the University of Florida is the central place to distribute bodies around the state. https://med.ucf.edu/media/2018/06/Donor-Packet-UCF-COM-2018-Fillable.pdf

The remains (if any) are cremated and the family can designate where the ashes are placed - usually in the Gulf of Mexico.

[malaise]

113. Very interesting

What would be the average cost of preliminary embalming and transportation?
Thanks for this

[csziggy]

116. In the packet I linked to, they might reimburse up to $650

"In an effort to reduce the expenses incurred by the family and/or estate and to show our deep appreciation to those who gift their bodies to medical education, the Anatomical Board has established a "Donor Assistance Fund". This fund allows for reimbursement of up to $650.00 of the funeral home costs incurred in the donation of the remains."

But there is no clue if that will cover even a large percentage of the cost.

[malaise]

117. Still it's way cheaper than a traditional burial

[csziggy]

118. I want a really traditional burial - no embalming, no casket, no ceremony

I told my husband to wrap me in a sheet and drag my body out in the woods - but he'd probably get in trouble for that.

I'm researching Florida law. I think I can designate part of my farm as a family plot and my husband and I can be buried there. I'd very much like to do a green burial - no chemicals - so burial in a cemetery is out of the question.

The problem is, I'd rather not have my burial location marked, but the state will not allow that. I guess people would freak out if they dug up bones in a few decades - though with our acidic red clay bones would not last long.

I've got a plan to run by my estate attorney which I think will satisfy everyone - but I won't talk about it until it's finalized.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

114. My mother donated her body to the cadaver lab at the medical school

in her city. After that was done, the remains were cremated and returned to us. We could have said no, dispose of them as you will, but we were happy to get them. It took several years but some of us kids were able to get her ashes to the place in New Hampshire where she wanted them scattered. Very nice.

[malaise]

115. That is very nice

I like

[egduj]

141. Or the military for explosive testing.

https://www.newsweek.com/donated-body-sold-army-brc-arizona-1451846

[Act_of_Reparation]

7. Medical schools always need cadavers.

Think of it like giving your body to the Goodwill.

[dalton99a]

8. Absolutely

[EarnestPutz]

24. Is there any explanation for the "Stair Step" graph line on the first chart"?

It represents "Burial Caskets - PPI" and I'm also wondering what PPI means.

[OnlinePoker]

29. PPI is the Producer Price Index

From BLS: The Producer Price Index (PPI) program measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output. The prices included in the PPI are from the first commercial transaction for many products and some services.

I think the graph is showing how much higher funeral costs are compared to the overall inflation rate and one of the main causes is the casket PPI.

[EarnestPutz]

42. Thanks, any idea about the very regular increases that create the stair step graph?

[OnlinePoker]

52. Annual price increases?

But if all the casket manufacturers are raising the price above the inflation rate in lockstep, that sounds to me like collusion (that dirty word) and is something that should be investigated as a possible criminal act.

[EarnestPutz]

62. That's what I thought. The funeral industry has been accused of collusion in the past.

That and price gouging.

[Lucid Dreamer]

135. Probably the data base from which the info was taken was sampled about every 6 months.

People that flog databases refer to things like "temporal granularity" that shows up like the stairsteps.

The graph would have looked "better" if had been smoothed out, but then purists would complain about faking it.

[panader0]

10. Can I wait until I'm dead first?

Cremation is in my will.

[marybourg]

56. Then make sure

your loved ones know what you want. Your will may not be found or read until after your burial.

[Codeine]

79. The orbital mind control lasers

keep telling me to DO IT NOW!!

[Bengus81]

13. Yup,the dough I have left will go to my second wife and my kids........

Not to a Cemetery and the whole "funeral" racket that PREYS on emotions.

[Coventina]

14. I really think that this is something personal people get to decide for themselves.

In many places, above ground burial is traditionally necessary (like New Orleans).
So, it may be a comfort to continue the practice elsewhere.

I really don't think people need to be scolded in this area.

There are objective advantages and disadvantages to every way of disposing of bodies (cost, environmental, etc.), but it's ultimately a personal decision, and should remain that way (outside of public health concerns).

[Goodheart]

15. What's the "objective advantage" of having your body slid into a file cabinet?

[Coventina]

17. It doesn't pollute groundwater or the soil.

Why does it personally offend you?

No one is going to make you do it.

I'm not defending the practice for any personal reasons, I just happen to think it's NOYB.

Grieving people don't deserve to be scolded about their choices. It's just not helpful nor kind.

[Goodheart]

50. Who said it personally offends me?

But your rationale "it doesn't pollute" is ridiculous vis a vis cremation, anyway.

None of my business? Who said it was my business?

[Coventina]

60. Are you being serious right now? You started a thread to complain about it.

Cremation does pollute the air, FWIW.

Not as much as other things like driving and energy production, but it does contribute.

[meadowlander]

84. You can get green burials though.

The body breaking down naturally in soil isn't "pollution". It's just the chemical preservatives we usually add for no damn reason that potentially causes pollution. And you can choose a cemetery site that doesn't affect groundwater.

Really people should have a will and should be making this decision for themselves long before their grieving relatives have to make it for them. So there's nothing wrong with discussing it.

I'm going for cremation because I think it's a bit selfish to require a section of the earth to be set aside more or less in perpetuity for my decaying body. If everyone did that, the whole world would be a graveyard with bodies stacked ten high per grave. Nobody is going to go out of their way to visit my grave, there are much more convenient ways they could remember me, and after everyone who knows me dies, I'm just taking up real estate for nobody's benefit.

I'm sure the ecosystem benefits of the little rectangle of ground that would have been my grave being a park instead for the next 500-600 years will outweigh any air pollution from my body being burned. And ash is a fertiliser wherever it ends up being spread.

[RobinA]

138. My Aunt

has a drawer in a file cabinet reserved because it creeps her out to think of being in the ground. My parents want/wanted to be cremated. I don’t like the idea because of the fire thing. I mean, what if I’m not all the way dead??? I have to admit though, when my father was cremated it was way simpler than the whole casket thing. We just toted the urn to the cemetery and stuck it in the hole they dug. Even then I had these, What if he wasn’t really dead?” thoughts.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

18. How sad the family didn't consult you in advance.

[Bayard]

19. Cremate me

Throw the ashes in my flower garden.

I did read about a guy who wanted to be cremated, and his ashes spread over the ocean. So the loved ones went out on a boat to do just that. A big breeze blew up at the exact time they threw them. and covered all of the family and friends with ashes.

[hunter]

20. What? No Soylent Green option?

What if I want to feed my community?

[kozar]

21. we have already decided to be cremated.

As did Mrs K's Dad and my parents. Tess we have chosen, because she is such a big part of our life, will be cremated also. But then we will pay some dollars to have some "diamonds" made from her for jewelry.

On a side, note and add some levity to a tough subject. My step daughter was was telling me about when her mom/my ex passed and they cremated her and took her out to the ocean to spread ashes. Her brother had the ashes and daughter was readying her camera. Brother wasn't paying attention and started flinging the remains, daughter went to yell NO! and took a mouthful of ashes due to wind. Daughter stills says,,"Damn,Dad,,she always got in the last word!"

Koz

[Fla Dem]

30. Never heard of turning ashes into diamonds. So looked it up......

“Memorial diamonds are diamonds created from hair or cremated remains.” The human body contains 18% carbon, whilst diamonds are pure carbon. Cremation diamonds are real diamonds, made from love ones' cremated ashes or hair, that can be graded the same to natural diamonds."




https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=nHlRXe_GM_Dc5gLX4p94&q=diamond+made+from+ashes&oq=&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.35i39.0.0..2124...1.0..0.87.87.1......0......gws-wiz.....1.oMDqiQfYWWk

[kozar]

36. yes,,,but

our lil handicapped girl is worth it

[Fla Dem]

44. Certainly not questioning your decision. As I said, just never heard of it before.

Was simply putting out some info for others who also may never have heard if it.

Also, did not know you were referring to a handicapped child. Even more totally understandable.

[kozar]

67. well,guess what ,Fla Dem?

You learned something today, which means you can stop everything,,have a few drinks, and relax. learn one thing a day and we do well. Thanks for the input,,it is morbid in a way,,but,,,it's just Tess,


Koz

[zackymilly]

23. I can't be buried on my land, so I told my family to flush me down the toilet.

That way I would be on my land in the septic tank and eventually be leeched into the ground.
They all thought it was a great idea, since I was full of crap anyway.
Nice family, huh?

[malaise]

123. DUzy

Du is a riot

[Boxerfan]

25. The higher predators (Wolves / Mountain lions) are starving.

A nice long one way walk into their territory is a great way to save everyone some trouble . And feed some critters.


Too bad we are short on ice floes to abandon our elders on. That would have been a better choice but global warming et all....

[ExciteBike66]

26. No, donate your body to science!

Train the doctors of the future...

[KatyMan]

27. We've made sure both of our daughters understand

That we want no ceremony, no burial, and if possible same day cremation. And, since we love to cruise, take our ashes on a cruise and throw them in the ocean (Carnival and other cruise lines will do this, you just have to have the ashes in a biodegradable container, which apparently is a relatively normal request).

[CTyankee]

45. I like that. I wonder if they do that on cruise ships going to the Greek Islands...that would

sure be a nice thought...the family has a vacay cruise to Greece and you get buried. OK!

[Goodheart]

51. Now there's beauty. :)

[Newest Reality]

28. Gotcha!

I am and do preemptively using the gradual method. It won't be long now

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

34. I suppose being stuffed and mounted isn't an option.

[nolabear]

94. I dunno. A velveteen ocelot sounds like a good prospect.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

96. I'll put it in my will.

Maybe I'll end up like this:

which would be a distinct improvement.

[mitch96]

39. Cremation just speeds up the inevitable... we all turn to dust at some point

Whether its fire or chemical cremation our physical body ends up in the same state. ... Many friends have dispose of ashes in the ocean. The only problem is that sometimes, to the onlookers horror that everything is not consumed in the fire. My friend was casting remains into the sea and a big chunk of bone and teeth came out!! Talk about a freak out.. So be prepared.
One friend put his mothers ashes in the ground and planted a tree on top. I thought that was neat... One life ends and feeds another...
+1 for cremation.
m

[RobinA]

139. The Funeral Home

through which my father was cremated told us that they grind up the remains after the cremation to avoid big chunks. I have some of his ashes in my car because where I want to put them I have to trespass onto railroad property and the time has not been right, but they are fairly finely ground. Not sand exactly, but no pieces. Certainly they aren’t ash in the usual sense.

[Turbineguy]

47. I knew a CEO who died

and was put into a mausoleum. It was 6 feet high which makes it really hard for his bagholder stockholders to piss on his grave.

[OnlinePoker]

53. I would like to just be put in a hole out in the woods

No embalming or preserving of any kind. Just let nature do its thing.

[whistler162]

125. Here is one place

http://www.naturalburial.org/

[sarisataka]

54. Alkaline hydrolysis

A "greener" form of cremation, it has a far smaller carbon footprint.

I have told my family they are free to process me any way they like, I promise to not complain since I will be dead. My only request is that my remains be brought into the service at least five minutes after it has started. I always wanted to be late for my own funeral.

[Snackshack]

55. Agreed.

[StarryNite]

57. Exploding Caskets

Nine Things About Human Decomposition

Exploding Caskets

"It’s rare. But it happens. The idea is pretty simple: a body is placed in a sealed casket, the gases from the decomposing corpse become trapped. The pressure rises and before you know it the casket is like an overblown balloon. It doesn’t necessarily explode like a balloon, but it will spill out all the nasty fluids and gasses trapped inside."

[link:https://www.calebwilde.com/2015/01/ten-things-about-human-decomposition/|

[Mosby]

58. Me and my wife are going to be buried using Jewish customs

No embalming, wood only casket.

[H2O Man]

59. Recommended.

In my Last Will & Testicle, I requested that I be cremated, and my ashes be used in the driveway during the winter months.

[empedocles]

63. Green burials are starting to come along

[Thomas Hurt]

65. I am partial to burial... I kind of hope that in five hundred years...if we are still around

some archeologist would dig me up.

[NeoGreen]

70. Same here...

...a pine box and worms for me, please.

[maxsolomon]

66. Sky burial.

Let the birds eat me.

[The_jackalope]

69. Here's an objection to cremation

Not mine - my choice is either to be composted if that is available, or cremated if not.

No, the (very strong) objections came from my mother-in-law and her sister, both survivors of Auschwitz...

[albacore]

71. Cremation costs fuel...

My plan is to have my body wrapped up in weighted metal hog fencing, and dropped into the crabbing area where my buddies fish for Dungeness crab.
Energy efficient, non-polluting, and my buddies can dine on extra-large crabs. What a great way to be remembered.

[The_jackalope]

72. De gustibus non est disputandum... nt

[albacore]

74. Sorry...

I took 2 years of Latin in HS... (Jesuits)... so yer goldang snark is wasted.
And NObody I know of disputes the superior taste of Dungeness crab.

[Oneironaut]

76. I really like the idea of a sky burial.

Of course, I’ll be dead, so I won’t be able to care what happens. I think Mausoleums are nasty, though.

[mitch96]

80. How about going 3 miles off shore with 50# weights and over you go!!!

Fish food........ is that legal???
m

[MineralMan]

81. My wife has instructions to cremate me and dump the ashes

into the Mississippi River from the Wabasha Ave. Bridge in St. Paul, MN. That way, I'll eventually make it to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I have warned her to pay attention to the wind and dump them on the downwind side.

[Mariana]

144. My parents have arranged that they'll be cremated

and poured into the Gulf of Mexico. They call it the Bake & Shake plan.

[dmr]

87. I want my ashes to be dumped in Lake Superior near the Pictured Rocks.

I want it to be autumn where I'm surrounded by the colorful beauty of the forests and rocks, along with the vast mystery of the Superior.

I want no funeral, and I want to go the cheapest way possible.

[Mendocino]

97. Chapel Beach?

no pun intended, just inferred. Spray Falls is also very nice.

[dmr]

121. Lol, you sound like my son

My son camps up there often, although I forget which site he prefers.

He threatens Mosquito Falls on me, lol. But tells me not to worry, he'll leave me a can of Off!

[llmart]

101. That is a gorgeous area, especially in fall.

Couldn't ask for a better "resting" place.

[LeftinOH]

88. Check out the YouTube channel "Ask a Mortician"

It's a YouTube channel created by the utterly charming and informative Caitlyn Doughty, who is a mortician and author based in Los Angeles. She has several videos about the funeral industry and practices, always including options that families are not often aware of. You'd think it would be a grim and unpleasant subject for a YouTube channel - but it's presented with tremendous warmth and sincerity.

[Duppers]

91. 🌲 Go Green

WHAT'S GREEN BURIAL?:

"We believe burial is “green” only when it furthers legitimate environmental and societal aims such as protecting worker health, reducing carbon emissions, conserving natural resources, and preserving habitat.

http://greenburialcouncil.org/



This is what I intend to have done. Already have names the funeral homes that offer this service in the city near where I'll probably die.

A lot of info at the link, folks.

[lagomorph777]

107. I want to return to the earth from which I came.

Not isolated in a sealed box.

2nd choice would be cremation; that's fairly close, and at the present time, more accessible.

[Backseat Driver]

92. I want to be cremated and

The cremains turned into diamonds for each of my daughters, loose, or for setting in rings or pendant.

[sanatanadharma]

95. Religious freedom rights

As a Hindu I expect to have my right to religious freedom respected.
I shall be cremated on an open pyre in the city park at the bank of the river.
My ashes then scattered on the waters such that I will eventually be present in every rivulet, stream, river, lake, pond, sea, cloud and raindrop, as though a homeopathic presence.

[backtoblue]

99. I'm a retired mortician

If you (or anyone) wants to know your options, contact your local funeral home before death.

The best way for your wishes to be honored upon death is to have instructions readily available and the costs taken care of in advance.

There are many different reasons people choose burial, cremation, donation, etc.

My suggestion to anyone who feels strongly about their manner of...disposal...is to take care of your arrangements beforehand.

[yonder]

106. Great advice.

[TDale313]

103. Am I weird that I honestly don't care much

What happens with my remains once I am gone? Probably opt for cremation, but really just not that fussed.

[Lucid Dreamer]

136. Add my vote to not caring.

Told my wife she could do what she wants.

[llmart]

104. I have been an avid environmentalist all my adult life.

For years I've said that when all of us baby boomers start dying off in droves, just think of how much land it would take if we all opted for an old-fashioned casket/headstone, etc. burial? What a waste of land. Those caskets don't decompose overnight.

I do think that most boomers are pro-cremation.

[avebury]

105. Okay how about creamation and have someone collect the ashes of a lot of people. If you split

the cost of a helicopter among as many of the deceased who agree ahead of time, someone could take that container of ashes and dump them over a Trump golf course.

[Midnightwalk]

111. I just want a big barbecue with plenty to drink

As for my body I don’t care but do it simple and cheap.

Shame on you if you thought something bad.

[whistler162]

112. After we finished packing up my dad's apartment

after he died my youngest brother asked what I was carrying in my trunk. I told him dad, had his ashes in the trunk for the drive back to where we buried his ashes. Spent about 6 months on a workbench before the burial.

[pansypoo53219]

119. freeze dry or compost greener.

[handmade34]

120. still legal in Vermont

to bury on my property... although I have donated my body to research at University of Vermont


also still legal to transport bodies in personal vehicles hand delivered my husband and father to the crematorium when they died

[live love laugh]

130. Way more people have died than are living. I wonder where are all of those bodies? nt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

134. Only a small percentage would have been buried in the first place.

Even fewer embalmed in some way.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

133. Mushroom suit in my backyard...

Back to nature by nature.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

142. That is what will happen to me, sort of.....

My body will be cremated, more than likely by the county, and when there are enough of us, put in a mass grave.

[bluedigger]

143. Crypts can be be fairly environmentally responsible, actually.

One of the biggest drawbacks to traditional burials in cemeteries is the loss of usable land that goes along with them. New Orlean's cemeteries have been functioning for several hundred years with little need for expansion to serve the growing population. How do they do it, you ask? Simple. Those shelves the bodies are placed on do not extend all the way to the back of the crypt. Once the body is suitably decomposed, the crypt is reopened, and the remains are pushed to the back, where they drop to the "ground floor". Then the space is available for the next body. The more you know...