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How Much Does a Cremation Cost? Depends Who You Call

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Re: How Much Does a Cremation Cost? Depends Who You Call

#61

Post by noonespecial »

theophrastus wrote: post #30
jjoe wrote: post #3

I understand that the choice/decision to cremate the self is personal. But I think it stops where the personal starts affecting us all. Is cremation that negligible of an issue for the environment?

India, who's Hindu population require cremation as a death rite, and really needs to worry about deforestation, has been investigating direct focused solar cremations, ("Huge two parabolas of 32 m2 concentrate solar radiation"[1]). I always thought that might be an interesting way to do it, particularly if one's body could be placed so that you vaporize at sun-rise. [1] http://www.tss-india.com/crematorium [2] http:/…

That's such a neat idea. I'm imagining a Stonehenge like ring of mirror towers with a central platform in the middle at the focus. What an awesome ceremony it would be. "From stardust we all came to the star we return our loved one..."

Re: How Much Does a Cremation Cost? Depends Who You Call

#62

Post by civilian »

ergothus wrote: post #27

Somewhat topical story: A co-worker was part of a jogging group (this was in Virginia, USA), and one of their members died after a fight with cancer. He wanted his ashes to be spread in the Botanical Gardens, where they ran. But said Botanical Gardens had rules denying this (don't recall if it was hygiene, environmental, or just not wanting to open the door to piles of ash). So the group somberly gathered, took his a…

One of my close friends died nearly three years ago, and his family and I spread his ashes in a national forest... possibly illegally, I'm not really sure.

I've returned to the spot a few times. I can still find his ashes! They weren't spread out very much when we first dumped them, though I've spread them out a little since, so some mountain flowers can grow among him. His ashes form an odd cement-like sand. I'm glad our national forests aren't littered with ash piles, but I am glad that I can come back and find my friend. I wonder how long I'll be able to find Nick's ash pile.

Re: How Much Does a Cremation Cost? Depends Who You Call

#63

Post by Spooky23 »

gambiting wrote: post #14
jjoe wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the resulting ash isn't biodegradable. Cemetery land can be reused after full decomposition and after enough time has passed.

How is it not biodegradable? It's mostly carbon and calcium, right? In which case it's as natural as it can be - saying it's not biodegradable is like saying that rocks are not biodegradable. You could probably use it as a fertilizer(not that you would want to, respect towards the deceased and all that) and it would be absolutely fine. Cemetery land is essentially locked for hundreds of years, probably more since no…

Rocks aren't biodegradable. There are buildings in Rome with basements made of Roman concrete.

Cemetery land gets reused all of the time. In my city, the main park (1890) and high school (1970) were both built on cemetery land. The land gets seized by eminent domain or purchase, bodies exhumed and rebutted elsewhere.

Re: How Much Does a Cremation Cost? Depends Who You Call

#64

Post by Spooky23 »

gambiting wrote: post #11
jjoe wrote: post #3

I understand that the choice/decision to cremate the self is personal. But I think it stops where the personal starts affecting us all. Is cremation that negligible of an issue for the environment?

Burying in a coffin requires wood and precious land space. What else do you propose? Burial at sea? A boat that would take your body there would also burn oil. I mean, there's a million more wasteful things that you can complain about, other than how we dispose of our bodies after death.

It's environmental paralysis. Perhaps we'd consume less energy rotting in place. If you died in the office, you'd get bonus karma for shutting the office down, reducing carbon emissions from commuting.

Re: How Much Does a Cremation Cost? Depends Who You Call

#65

Post by nommm-nommm »

stevesearer wrote: post #2

I temped in a sales office for a cremation company a number of years ago and it was a very interesting experience. You can pre-buy cremations and issued a legally binding document which states that you are to be cremated. This can save your family the trouble and heartache of shopping around for a good deal as well as debate/drama over what to do with your remains. From what I understand, it is also easy to be upsold…

My great grandma died at 94. She prepaid her entire funeral, bought the plot, picked out the dress she was to be buried in, and prepaid for everyone to eat afterwards (not sure how that part worked out but she did).

Re: How Much Does a Cremation Cost? Depends Who You Call

#66

Post by newman314 »

rattray wrote: post #59

If anyone is interested in working on this, I am connected with an "industry veteran" (has owned dozens of funeral homes and similar institutions across the country) working on an "Uber of cremations". My email is in my profile.

This seems strange. While I think price transparency is good, I'm not quite sure what incentive a funeral home would have in participating since essentially it would be a race to zero.

Re: How Much Does a Cremation Cost? Depends Who You Call

#67

Post by kweinber »

LordKano wrote: post #50
rpgmaker wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Between 1996 and the date of the discovery, more than 2,000 bodies had been sent to Tri-State. The search ultimately recovered 339 uncremated bodies. Of the 339 bodies that were discovered, 226 were identified." How long did they expect to keep that up? I could conceive of them doing it for maybe a year and then buying a machine but it seems that, at least to them, it became business as usual.

I remember when this was a breaking story. At first, they claimed that some bodies had been improperly stored as they were awaiting repairs to the retort. Then, when the scope of the issue became known, I wondered the same thing. How long did they think they could keep stacking bodies without anyone noticing them? I don't believe they ever thought that far ahead.

I saw a presentation on it done by one of the officials who did the cleanup (he was actually the same guy in charge of body recovery in Kosovo death camps, brought in because Tristate was so grisly) . He explained that the guy who ran the place was slow (mentally handicapped) ... He came from a good family, who ran the facility responsibly until the father died and he took over. . He wasn't a creep or a cheat, just was not mentally equipped to handle the responsibility.

Re: How Much Does a Cremation Cost? Depends Who You Call

#68

Post by meric »

civilian wrote: post #62
ergothus wrote: post #27

Somewhat topical story: A co-worker was part of a jogging group (this was in Virginia, USA), and one of their members died after a fight with cancer. He wanted his ashes to be spread in the Botanical Gardens, where they ran. But said Botanical Gardens had rules denying this (don't recall if it was hygiene, environmental, or just not wanting to open the door to piles of ash). So the group somberly gathered, took his a…

One of my close friends died nearly three years ago, and his family and I spread his ashes in a national forest... possibly illegally, I'm not really sure. I've returned to the spot a few times. I can still find his ashes! They weren't spread out very much when we first dumped them, though I've spread them out a little since, so some mountain flowers can grow among him. His ashes form an odd cement-like sand. I'm gla…

It sounds bittersweet. More bitter. I'm happy you're glad. I am replying because I'd get into depression if I lose my close friend and thought you might appreciate a reply, but really I don't know what to say.

Re: How Much Does a Cremation Cost? Depends Who You Call

#69

Post by WalterBright »

nsxwolf wrote: post #23
gambiting wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Burying in a coffin requires wood and precious land space. What else do you propose? Burial at sea? A boat that would take your body there would also burn oil. I mean, there's a million more wasteful things that you can complain about, other than how we dispose of our bodies after death.

Why not just liquify bodies with chemicals and then flush them down the drain?

Why has nobody mentioned making soylent green yet? :)

Re: How Much Does a Cremation Cost? Depends Who You Call

#70

Post by kweinber »

smileysteve wrote: post #39
outworlder wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Down the drain? As in, the city's waste treatment plant? I for one don't want to drink liquefied brains.

... Where do you think fish biodegrade to? Eventually bodies make it to the ground, which then eventually make it to the air...

"Where do you think fish biodegrade to?"

Soylent 1.5, that was just before they switched to algal oil.

I wonder what Soylent 3.0 will be made of?

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