Would you ever consider having a "green" funeral?

I would think any ceremony where you put a body in the ground would be, to some degree, automatically “green”.

I’ll donate my body to science. Or maybe to that bodies exhibit so I can tower over all of the tiny Chinese bodies. Is that green?

I don’t care what happens to my body once I’m dead as long as nothing crazy sick gets done to it. Funerals are just a way for the people left behind to deal with your death. If my body could be used to improve the world then go for it.

@eponymoushipster -
From the article it says:

“Along with its dead, the United States buries 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete, 827,060 tons of toxic embalming fluid, 90,000 tons of steel (from caskets), and 30 million tons of hardwood board each year, according to the Green Burial Council, an independent nonprofit organization based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.”

“We can rebuild the Golden Gate Bridge with that amount of metal,” said Joe Sehee, the council’s executive director. “The amount of concrete is enough to build a two-line highway from New York to Detroit.”

Eh not my style. I want to be made into a diamond. Now that shows class.

I definitely want to be cremated, but I don’t think I’d want to be made into anything. Scattered in Lake Superior sounds fine with me.

@KrystaElyse my dad used to help make these “high rise” concrete coffin honeycomb things, because they were running out of space in NYC and were burying people 8 deep in these things. The grossest part: there was a hole in each one so that “drippings” could seep into the ground.

i was just being facetious earlier. but i mean, ultimately, you’re plant food. the embalming fluid and concrete is crazy though.

p.s. – did you hear about the alcoholic who wanted to be cremated? he burnt for three days!

@eponymoushipster – Oh wow, that is gross!! Hahaha, yeah this is true.

lol, and lurve for the joke! ;)

@TenaciousDenny ; my dad tried to donate his body to science but they didn’t want it.

I want to do what ever is cheapest. I don’t want my family spending thousands of dollars on my shell when I’m gone.

I’d rather just get cremated and scattered. Having my ashes made into some artificial reef sounds silly, and honestly, I don’t know if the benefit would outweigh the effort and cost.

I have plans to be cremated. When events get closer I will look into current green options. Good idea and good question.

I love this idea. The first step, of course, is to make sure you sign up to be an organ donor, so you’re organs can be reused first. (www.donatelife.org) What are other ideas to make a funeral green?

@cleanearth Yes. I am an organ donor.

@cleanearth – That’s a great idea, i’m an organ donor as well. The article mentions biodegradable coffins as another option.

My husband and I both want to be cremated; however, there is a “green” cemetery in a bordering state, we have considered that – but the cost is still very steep. I want the cost to be as low as possible and I don’t want all of the extras – it’s crazy to me how much funerals cost a family. Buried six feet under? Not for me!

Id much rather a viking funeral :P

@uberbatman. Is that the one where they cremate you on a Viking Long Boat with all your possessions? I saw that on a movie once and it was pretty cool.

@uberbatman Me too. Or maybe mummification. I haven’t really decided yet.

Is cremation really green when, I assume, they fire the oven with gas so there is energy consumption there and the emissions into the air from the gas and the actual burning of the body? What is a really green and safe funeral?

@Bluefreedom yea, put you on a boat with everything, light it on fire, and push it out to sea.

@Baloo72 yeaaa mummification id up there too :) Or we can go hunter s thompson style and get fired out of a cannon :P

The greenest thing I can think of would be to just stick me in a hole—no casket, no embalming fluid. Just me and the worms. I’d be just fine with that.

Put me in a blender, and use me as chum. They could use me on shark dives.

seriously, i wonder what the legality of that is

@Knotmyday im sure theres some kind of issues with it, but i really dont understand why there should be. I mean this is your body we’re talking about and your already dead, so who cares what happens to it?

Edit: OHHH OHH and you can ask to be featured on Will it Blend? before the shark feeding too :P

@Knotmyday – lmao, that comment reminded me of this article I found http://revellian.com/2008/12/02/go-green-the-green-funeral-movement/

nice

edit: and nice edit, uber

@Knotmyday – that link is so, well it is funny, and true and tongue in cheek, all at the same time. Thanks for sharing!

I always thought that a something nice and green would be to wrap me in a linen shroud and bury me in a nice spot. And then on top, plant an ash tree or a lilac bush. Sorted!

@uberbatman I’m so with you on the Viking funeral. :p

sorry to burst bubbles here, but spreading your ashes constitutes as illegal disposal of toxic waste, at least in this state. To do it, your family must be willing to break the law. A friend of mine spread her Dad’s ashes in her garden, right where the tomatoes grow. I thought that was pretty creepy. I think maybe I’ll just have a taxidermist stuff me naked with an erection so my wife’s new husband has a place to hang his hat. :-)

@evelyns_pet_zebra that’s nasty. “These tomatoes remind me of someone…but who? OH YEAH. my dead father. no wonder they smell like Aqua Velvet”. nasty.

@eponymoushipster – lmao, it’s Aqua VELVA

Why would someone sprinkle someone’s ashes on food? ::shudder::

@KrystaElyse i thought so, but i’m too tired to care. i gotta go to bed.

in that vein, if i get turned into ash, i want everyone to drizzle me lightly over shots of vodka.

sweeeeeeet.

No.I really look better in black but hey whatever floats your boat.