How Much Does a Cremation Cost? Depends Who You Call • Hacker News Board

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

#81

Post by Spooky23 » Tue, Feb 02, 2016, 2:22 PM UTC

pixl97 wrote: post #79

Spooky23 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>Rocks aren't biodegradable. I'm sorry, but what? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen >When growing on mineral surfaces, some lichens slowly decompose their substrate by chemically degrading and physically disrupting the minerals, contributing to the process of weathering by which rocks are gradually turned into soil. While this contribution to weathering is usually benign, it can cause problems for artificial stone…

In terms of geologic process, sure. But a concrete cemetery vault is going to remain right where it is, in it's present form for thousands of years.

Near where I live, there are boulders that were dragged down a valley by retreating glaciers 10,000 years ago. They've been exposed to the elements for that time, are are materially intact.

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

#82

Post by rpgmaker » Wed, Feb 03, 2016, 3:38 AM UTC

kweinber wrote: post #67

LordKano wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 w…

Wow, thanks for the background on that. He must've been way more handicapped than anyone thought though.

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

#83

Post by gambiting » Thu, Feb 04, 2016, 10:46 AM UTC

Spooky23 wrote: post #81

pixl97 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Rocks aren't biodegradable. I'm sorry, but what? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen >When growing on mineral surfaces, some lichens slowly decompose their substrate by chemically degrading and physically disrupting the minerals, contributing to the process of weathering by which rocks are gradually turned into soil. While this contribution to weathering is usually benign, it can cause problems for artificial stone…

In terms of geologic process, sure. But a concrete cemetery vault is going to remain right where it is, in it's present form for thousands of years. Near where I live, there are boulders that were dragged down a valley by retreating glaciers 10,000 years ago. They've been exposed to the elements for that time, are are materially intact.

I am wondering what is your definition of biodegradable then. I would argue that cremation is the ultimate form of biodegradation of the body, since it has been reduced to something that cannot be reduced any further - you end up with some carbon and calcium, which is what you would end up anyway - that's what we are made out of in the end.