Do you want to be buried or cremated? Why?
Posted Jan 23, 2011, 5:53 PM UTC
20173
Cremated. Takes up less space and I can (more easily) grow back as part of the Earth. But take my organs out first. That shit gets donated.
28
Donate everything they can, burn the body, toss in the ocean. That´s about it. Dont like the idea of my body rotting with perfect organs (maybe not the liver ;)) and not even becoming supply for plants.
3
Same here, my friend. I think its the best way. Also, I'm an agnostic so I figure that if there is a god it will build some karma with him(...or her).
2
Excellent outlook!
2
donate your long-bones, too!
1
Donate all of your bones.
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-4
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0
I'd prefer to donate my organs to the needy and my body to science. After that, let me get cremated. Quite frankly, I won't care at that point :)
28
I'd like to do this too. Although the thought of human body farms puts me off a bit.
But hell, I won't be using my insides - so would much rather lend them to someone else that needs it ;)
1
you can donate to science without specifically donating to a body farm. there are many other aspects of scientific study that could use you!
1
Do you want your skull to sit on a professor's desk? Not that I say that that is what happens when you donate your body to science, but I think it could.
1
If mine would end up on a museum, I'd be happy with it...!
... Wait I'll be dead. I won't be able to be happy.
1
Yes but what if he stores pencils or paperclips in it?
3
I'll be useful for someone!
5
The trick is to be very specific when you donate your body. Do you want it to be used for medical research? If at a decomposition research facility, would you like to be clothed? Would you like your bones to be a part of a collection? Would you like them to be returned after a certain amount of time?
Research facilities are usually very accommodating to donor wishes. But you have to put the work into it before you die. For example, it's perfectly possible to donate your organs and then donate to a body farm, but those are two sets of people who don't usually talk to each other. So you have to make sure your family knows what you want, put it into writing, and then contact the right people and be specific.
1
As somebody who was involved in accepting bodies for medical donation I can tell you that medical facilities are not accommodating. When you donate a body the body must be intact. Donating organs for another program or even organ transplant will disqualify the body.
When you donate to a medical facility you give them permission to do whatever they want. That being said, 98% of all anatomical donations will end up teaching anatomy and medical procedures to doctors. Not a lot of research is done on decomposition for forensic studies.
I imagine the few body farm facilities that exist probably have a very long list of conditions that would disqualify a body from donation. I imagine too they only will accept bodies that die within their immediate vicinity as medical schools will not transport bodies long distances for donations.
2
or your family will have to cover transportation costs to the body farms. although i've read that some of the farms have become so popular that the lists are too long for acceptance of bodies - not enough space.
1
I want to be cremated, and be compressed into a diamond so I can live on forever and ever. Link here if you have never heard of this
19
they can also compress your ashes in to graphite and turn you in to a box of pencils.
23
Perfect gift if you have kids, or for the office staff.
17
thats ludicrous!
1
I've been thinking about this more.
I'm a geologist so it would be cool to be a "mineral" but I hate diamonds with the intensity of 1000 suns.
9
Just out of curiosity why? Can I assume it is a more scientific reason because you are a geologist or is it because some women like the most expensive kind. (The biggest ones)
1
It is a trash mineral that should only be used for industry.
They aren't rare an should not be expensive.
All they have going for them is their hardness.
Why do you need a ring with a hardness of 10? You don't.
Corundum (sapphire and ruby) has a hardness of 9 and also looks better.
8
I agree sapphire is beautiful and my favorite stone.
1
That is why I proposed to my fiancee with a sapphire.
1
Exactly; the price is artificially inflated.
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5
I agree, this was the sole reason for not turning my Dad into jewelry for my sister and I. He passed in June, this summer I plan to spread his ashes in a forest, as his life long dream was to be a Forest Ranger. (He was an Engineer, you are probably using a product produced on one of his inventions right now.)
3
i read about this a while back and thought that it would be really creepy/cool to have a "family tree" where each deceased member would have a slot for their diamond.
2
I have heard of that. It seems an interesting idea.
1
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1
I WANT A VIKING FUNERAL BECAUSE THOR IS WAITING FOR ME IN VALHALLA
14
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9
As a funeral director here I would like to offer some advice on final disposition. Its very important that this be discussed with family members. While we would all like to live long lives it is not always the case and letting our families know about this in advance can ease their burden should something happen to us.
In many cases our cultures or religious backgrounds will dictate what will happen. Jews and Muslims will insist on burial while Hindus will have cremation.
Burial: The biggest challenge with burial is finding the cemetery space to bury them. Once the plot is selected it is just a matter of transporting the body to the cemetery. In North America the burial plots are for eternity. In island nations burial is only available to the very rich and in Europe land is leased for 10-50 years and if the lease is not renewed the grave is disinterred and moved to common ground.
** Entombment:** Its an above ground burial. Its popular with the Italian culture and people of wealth. Today the rich build private mausoleums as eternal testaments to their wealth and status. Entombments are also used in areas where burial may not be practical due to issues with the soil (like New Orleans). Its generally the most expensive burial option.
Cremation: Cremation is not a method of final disposition but part of the death process. When a person is cremated the bone fragments are collected and returned in an urn or container and returned to the family. The family has to decide what to do with the cremated remains. If your wish is cremation you should also tell your family what you want done with your cremated remains when you are done.
Donation to Medical Science: Donating a body to medical science is actually a complicated process. Bodies have a long list of conditions that disqualify them from donation. If your wish is to be donated to medical science you also need to consider a plan B in case you are disqualified. Bodies donated to medical science are typically used to teach medical students anatomy as well as teaching medical procedures to aspiring doctors. Most medical schools have body donation programs and in some parts of the world there are firms that will pay families money to donate a body to science.
** Cryogenic Freezing:** The body is frozen in liquid nitrogen with the hopes that one day medical science will find a day to bring the person back to life. This is a very expensive procedure and there is no guarantee it will ever work
Resomation: This is a very new procedure whereby the body is essentially broken down under pressure using water and chemicals. When the process is done everything (minus the bones) is emptied into the municipal water supply. The bones are broken into a powder and returned to the family. The advantage of resomation is it does not burn any fossil fuels like cremation does. If you are the environmentally friendly type of person this is something to consider if you have concerns about your carbon foot print.
What methods are available to you will depend on your jurisdiction. Discuss them with your family and a local funeral director to find out what your options are and you can go from there.
9
in school for funeral services in california right now - have you gotten to deal with any cases who specifically request resomation? i'd love to see the facilities for this.
1
Its still a very new technology. Its coming to North America but it has to overcome a few legal hurdles. The first is getting the local investigative authorities to approve the process (ie medical examiners/coroners). The plan is they will approve the process the same way they approve cremation. As well, since the affluent from the process ends up in the waste water of the local municipal water supply it requires the approval of the waste water treatment people.
A lot of people in a lot of jurisdictions are working on overcoming these legal hazards. Assuming they can be overcome the only thing left to do is educate families and get them to accept it as a method of disposition. I only included the process in my list because I feel in several years it will become a new way of disposal of human remains (when many reddit folks will need the services)
1
i think green burials and similarly green techniques are the future of the industry. embracing them is going to be the only way to meet your bottom line. any knowledge about the cost of resomation comparative to cremation?
1
I want my corpse to be served at dinner.
5
When I was serving with her majesty's forces in Papua New Guinea we would often join the locals when they would feast on long pork. It was similar in taste to veal.
5
I want my brother to make a necklace from my hand bones.
1
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Neither, I'm not dead yet!
5
Prove it.
1
By posting on reddit?
1
Cremated, because what if I'm not really dead when I'm buried? Then I'll be fucking buried alive.
5
And if you were cremated, you'd be burned alive.
3
shiver
1
more like sizzle
2
goosebumps
1
Donate all your organs, pretty hard to be buried alive without them.
2
Yeah but not really being dead when you're cremated is even worse. It's probably fairly hard to form into a little ash man and break out of whatever stupid-head container they put you in.
1
havent you seen spiderman 3? sandman did it.
3
we're usually pretty good about knowing when you're dead while we prepare you, but we could fix you up with a safety coffin if you'd like!
1
Cremated for sure - though open to sky burial if I am in that part of the world at the time I die. I think the funeral business is gruesome. I have had to deal with them on a few occasions now and it left me pretty disgusted. I don't want to be in a box full of chemicals in the ground. I would like my loved ones to put me in a groovy urn.
5
I like the idea of a sky burial too
4
not all of us in the funeral industry are awful, i promise!
2
I am sure that is true. I didn't want to paint with too broad a brush. Sorry!
2
no worries. hopefully no one i ever work with will come away with a bad experience. i can't imagine why people get into the industry lacking care and compassion.
2
At one of the funerals I went to, a guy came out at the close of the funeral and did a sales pitch on plots.
2
I want to be composted and have a memorial tree planted in me. Yes, this is really done. It seems both really cool and like the most environmentally reasonable option.
5
i think sweden is the place to go for this. not easy to get it to catch on in the US, unfortunately.
1
Cremated. Takes up less space.
Of cource there is something to be said for what my brother wants. He wants to be blown up.
4
Huh, most of us just want to be blown...
3
Cremated, so I won't come back as a zombie.
4
Oh, I totally want to come back as a zombie. My boyfriend promised me he would feed me brains and keep me on a leash somewhere...oh, wait.
1
Cremated. I don't like the idea of worms burrowing through me even if I'm dead.
4
Buried. Us Jews don't really believe in cremation.
3
Are Jews outside the US more open to the idea?
2
It's more of a religious thing than a cultural thing. Though, you have to realize the connotation of burning a Jew. It's not something we take too lightly after that whole Holocaust incident.
Edit: I'm dead serious. You don't burn a Jew. It's why it's especially important to me that I get buried.
3
Of course you're dead serious. It's a rather grave subject.
6
Positively bone chilling.
2
Oh. Right. I'm a little slow today, but now I understand.
Edit: And I just realized I totally read your first statement wrong. You meant "us", I read it as "US," like the United States. Sorry about that.
1
I'm not trying to be rude, but, why? Was this the practice before the Holocaust? Because if it was, I would be interestd in hearing what the relgious reasons were/are.
1
It's ancient. Burning is considered a means of disposing of something, not of honoring it. It's the same reason that our bodies are interned so quickly after death. It's disrespectful to let the body decompose in the open air.
1
Thus he (Odin) established by law that all dead men should be burned, and their belongings laid with them upon the pile, and the ashes be cast into the sea or buried in the earth. Thus, said he, every one will come to Valhalla with the riches he had with him upon the pile; and he would also enjoy whatever he himself had buried in the earth. For men of consequence a mound should be raised to their memory, and for all other warriors who had been distinguished for manhood a standing stone; which custom remained long after Odin's time
3
Buried. Why? Outside chance that zombies are real.
3
I'll be dead so it doesnt matter. Toss me in a dumpster and save the money
might matter to your family, though. donate your body to science - way more useful than if you're decomposing in a dumpster.
I agree with you, but I want my body parts donated to whomever wants them. Then toss me in a dumpster.
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