What's the eco footprint of death?

That's a good idea. Maybe I'll donate all the parts I can and bury the rest under some trees or whathaveyou. Actually, bury the rest and plant some pot on top, and then smoke the plants, kind of like in How High.

does your body give off mercury either way?

i'm donating almost every bit of my body. with my wife's consent i'll donate the leftovers to science

not gonna die. ever

Check out Promession:
http://www.promessa.se/index_en.asp

Cool idea, I'm just not sure of how eco-frienldy liquid nitrogen is.

I've always wondered what happens when we run out of burial space...

sky burial in the Himalayas - being cut into pieces and fed to vultures . that's what i'm talkin bout .

The post is really interesting, but if everyone decided against cremation, I think there would be a serious lack of space in our graveyards and that would not be pretty.

"...by the time a body is in the ground, the formaldehyde in the embalming fluid has broken down into carbon, oxygen, and water...."

at least we know the formaldehyde isn't harming anything post mortem.

i want a chicago funeral, throw my body from a moving car!

I never really knew natural burials existed but they sound like a much better option. I think people are kidding themselves when they think they need extravagant coffins and such.

Word. I want to be buried at a natural cemetery- you get a little plot and you can pick what trees, flowers etc are planted over you. Forget about leaving flowers for me, I AM the flowers now, bitches!

Will have to think long and hard on this one.I would love to be buried in the back yard but the neighbors would bitch.Last respects how mid evil is that.Just don't put me in a plastic casket!!

The amount of resources returned to the earth through burial will never balance the resources extracted from it.

Yeah count me out of being cremated.

Wow, I always wanted to be cremated, but after reading this, I'm not so sure... Is the Mercury in my body going to pollute the earth either way?

This is good information... I've been thinking about getting started on an exit plan, it is so important for our loved ones after we leave.... Now I'll be able to say that that will encompass the earth and all by choosing a natural burial.

There is something about staring at a dead body that just doesn't do it for me. Feel free to throw my body to the fire and put the ashes in a Pringles can after I'm gone. Once you pop you can't stop!

thanks for all the info touch art!

"Cremations of Tompkins County residents during the past year released between 1.2 and 6.8 pounds of mercury into the atmosphere. This estimate is based on a 20% statewide cremation rate—though the county’s rate is probably higher."

Mercury is a heavy metal that accumulates in the body and is not excreted by the body without interventions like chelation.

Mercury is toxic in low doses (over 2.2 ppms)
and causes neurological damage.

There is already an overload of mercury in the air, water and earth, as well as people's bodies, brains, bones, and fat tissue, so any amount of mercury cremation adds to the mix is too much.

"827,060 gallons of embalming fluid"

Formaldehyde, in embalming, outgased from building materials and carpets, as used as a solvent in acrylic paints is highly toxic and causes illness.

Poisoning earth and water by using formaldehyde to preserve bodies for a few days before burial is insane. Maybe the funeral industry uses formaldehyde to increase its market.

This worked for our family but now I see that creation is polluting so maybe it is not the best choice.

Our father was cremated He set it all up for us to do..no fuss for s at all. $500.
He kept saying he wanted to be tossed in the garbage bin in the back. Needless to say this was not carried through by his loving family.
We took his ashes to the nearby warm ocean in Florida and his grandson and two children let him out in the warm sea.
a few shots of rum before and after and a sandwich at his favorite deli were in order..and tearful lighting candles all around the country by his family at sundown that day.
We all took several shells and pieces of coral from the beach at the time. When we went up north we threw them in a little fountain near the rest of his family in the regular cemetery with our family plots when we were burying his nephew there.