Have you guys heard about this? Apparently in addition to all the other trendy "going green" things out there, you can now get biodegradable coffins made from stuff like bamboo, seagrass, wicker willow, you name it.
This is all news to me, but then again, I've never been on the cutting edge of much of anything.
(http://img.diytrade.com/cdimg/587310/10161453/0/1250680012.jpg)
So, instead of going to a funeral, it looks like you're going to a bizarre tea party at your grandma's house.
Dunno, I guess it's a good thing if that's what you want to be buried in, just seems on the bizarre side to me. Course, I always found the whole "fancy coffin" (of any type) a bit bizarre because the occupant really couldn't care less, but funerals are never really for the dead.
From what I understand, the fancy coffin only really is good for the people in mourn. That is, the people who are paying for it and want to feel better. I guess it has some sort of effect that you feel more at peace with the death because you got them a nice coffin.
That being said, this could have the same effect. It makes them feel good because they think they're helping the environment. Whether this actually does help the environment or not is another story.
When I go, I want the same thing as my Dad had: family and friends around having a party on me. Little or no memorial service, just good memories.
Something else: if people want to remember me on the day of my death, they should go see a movie, any movie and remember me that way. :cheers:
You know, speaking of such, this is going to sound morbid, but sometimes I wish I do a Tom Sawyer and attend my own funeral. (For those who haven't read the book, Tom and co goto an island for several days "playing pirates" and the town, after a search turns up nothing, assumes he and his friends drowned in the river.)
I'm just curious what everyone will say about me, and wouldn't mind being there as a bunch of people (hopefully) heap praise on me.
Why do we wait until someone's DEAD before we say good stuff about them?
Quote from: BTM on January 27, 2010, 04:29:09 AM
Why do we wait until someone's DEAD before we say good stuff about them?
Guilt? The realization that you can longer spend time with that person, that perhaps you didn't make the effort when they were alive?
As the famous saying goes:
You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone
That wicker coffin would cave in as soon as the first bucketload of dirt from the backhoe hit it. I don't think I'd want to live with the thought of my loved one getting a face full of crushed wicker and dirt for the rest of my life.
I'd rather go out like The Wicker Man. :wink: :hot:
Quote from: Trevor on January 27, 2010, 08:19:03 AM
I'd rather go out like The Wicker Man. :wink: :hot:
Being burned? and dying because of some weird religion? :teddyr: :hot: :bouncegiggle: :buggedout:
Quote from: Bull on January 27, 2010, 08:38:10 AM
Quote from: Trevor on January 27, 2010, 08:19:03 AM
I'd rather go out like The Wicker Man. :wink: :hot:
Being burned? and dying because of some weird religion? :teddyr: :hot: :bouncegiggle: :buggedout:
Yessir: with all my friends singing and dancing below me singing in ye olde Eenglish. :teddyr:
I would like to become a taxidermy piece.
Whatever floats their boat I guess. I want to be cremated and I dont care what happens to the ashes. :smile:
I want to be encased in a metal statue that shoots lasers. :smile:
I prefer a simple coffin and stuff. Nothing too extreme or extrordinary. In rememberance of me, everyone I liked can watch my favorite movie, Dick Tracey. Everybody I hated can watched Frogs and Monster A Go-Go. I'll still get them back from beyond the grave! :tongueout:
My salute to poet Odgen Nash
Candy is dandy
But wicker is quicker
A pot is not
I'm not going to need a coffin or an urn, as I left instructions for me to be cremated, after I'm dead, then my remains to be scattered to the four winds: north, south, east, and west, and where my heart rests the best.
I just want to be lowered into a vat of beer.
Quote from: Trevor on January 27, 2010, 02:12:21 AM
When I go, I want the same thing as my Dad had: family and friends around having a party on me.
You do mean at your expense, right?
Coffins are an unconscionable scam. The highest priced item you will ever be forced to purchase that serves no useful function.
There's an artist not far from here who has spent the last couple of decades covering his substantial piece of land with huge concrete sculptures. I interviewed him a few years ago about an item on his website where he offered to take a person's ashes and mix them into the concrete for one of his gigantic monoliths - for the nominal fee of $10,000. It was kind of a tongue-in-cheek statement about the high cost of funerals, but he said if anyone was willing to pay, he'd certainly do it. As far as I know, he's had no takers, but he did get some inquiries from people who just wanted to know if he was serious. The headline of my story was about Peter Camani's "monumental undertaking."
Here's the picture that went with it:
(http://multimedia.simcoe.com/images/32/a7/fa6cd60f447bbd6ed03001769815.jpeg)
Quote from: AndyC on January 27, 2010, 06:14:12 PM
Quote from: Trevor on January 27, 2010, 02:12:21 AM
When I go, I want the same thing as my Dad had: family and friends around having a party on me.
You do mean at your expense, right?
Yes, that is what Dad did and what I want: he left some money for it and so will I. :smile:
i will donate my body, though :buggedout:
Just dig a hole, shove my body in and call it good! I don't need no damn elaborate funeral either. I just want a big wake and a lot of people having a good time.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wicker is just wood. How would this be any better than a pine box? I suppose it would decompose more quickly, but I don't think that would matter unless you were planning on digging your loved one up in in a few months. Which I find...odd.
shoot me into space. My body won't clutter up the world PLUS I will be frozen and preserved forever.
I want to be buried in an above ground, marble mausoleum . . . . in a long black cape. Then I shall rise in the night and haunt the dreams of pale-skinned English girls wearing low cut gowns . . .
Quote from: flackbait on January 28, 2010, 07:56:10 PM
Just dig a whole, shove my body in and call it good! I don't need no damn elaborate funeral either. I just want a big wake and a lot of people having a good time.
:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
Quote from: Jack on January 29, 2010, 11:11:00 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wicker is just wood. How would this be any better than a pine box? I suppose it would decompose more quickly, but I don't think that would matter unless you were planning on digging your loved one up in in a few months. Which I find...odd.
I was thinking about that too. It seems to me that where the 'eco-friendly' comes in is more in the
production of the box than in what happens to it underground. Most burials are at depth that does not give surface plants etc access to the remains, and presumably is safe for the local groundwater. So contamination of the environment by the burial should be at a minimum.
Should it be assumed that anyone planning to be 'green' after death will eschew enbalming as well? I would think that would involve more chemicals being introduced to the environment than the casket will.
My funeral will involve watching every dvd i own, Then a 32 hour prayer session and then another one bites the dust will be played
Quote from: Newt on January 30, 2010, 08:49:20 AM
Just dig a whole, shove my body in and call it good!
Er... but you want them to COVER the hole afterwords, right? Otherwise it might get a little ripe in that neighborhood after a few days...
:teddyr:
Quote from: Newt on January 30, 2010, 08:56:52 AM
Most burials are at depth that does not give surface plants etc access to the remains,
I remember hearing on the radio about an eco-friendly burial option that took the opposite approach. Get buried in a more shallow grave, and let the plants get at you. Keeps your nutrients from going to waste, and preserves the whole "circle of life" thing. Can't argue with it for practicality, I suppose.
http://www.greenlaneburialfield.co.uk/index.htm (http://www.greenlaneburialfield.co.uk/index.htm)
This place maintains a nature preserve, but I vaguely remember another place where actual crops get planted on top of the residents. Again, can't argue with the practicality, but it might be a bit too "Secret Window" for my liking.
Myself, I'd like to go for a less eco-friendly funeral, but nobody does atmospheric nuclear tests anymore. :teddyr:
Quote from: BTM on January 31, 2010, 02:21:15 AM
Quote from: Newt on January 30, 2010, 08:49:20 AM
Just dig a whole, shove my body in and call it good!
Er... but you want them to COVER the whole afterwords, right? Otherwise it might get a little ripe in that neighborhood after a few days...
:teddyr:
Hey its their choice! But it might kinda suck when I start attracting animals! :bluesad:
In all seriousness, thats a good point I don't really want to be stinking up the place!
Quote from: flackbait on January 31, 2010, 09:51:56 PM
Quote from: BTM on January 31, 2010, 02:21:15 AM
Quote from: Newt on January 30, 2010, 08:49:20 AM
Just dig a whole, shove my body in and call it good!
Er... but you want them to COVER the whole afterwords, right? Otherwise it might get a little ripe in that neighborhood after a few days...
:teddyr:
Hey its their choice! But it might kinda suck when I start attracting animals! :bluesad:
In all seriousness, thats a good point I don't really want to be stinking up the place!
The question on my mind is still "The whole what?" :teddyr:
Quote from: AndyC on January 31, 2010, 10:45:53 PM
Quote from: flackbait on January 31, 2010, 09:51:56 PM
Quote from: BTM on January 31, 2010, 02:21:15 AM
Quote from: Newt on January 30, 2010, 08:49:20 AM
Just dig a whole, shove my body in and call it good!
Er... but you want them to COVER the whole afterwords, right? Otherwise it might get a little ripe in that neighborhood after a few days...
:teddyr:
Hey its their choice! But it might kinda suck when I start attracting animals! :bluesad:
In all seriousness, thats a good point I don't really want to be stinking up the place!
The question on my mind is still "The whole what?" :teddyr:
The whole of the hole of course (sorry bad pun)!
Heh, I corrected that mistake after I saw your quote.
Quote from: Newt on January 30, 2010, 08:56:52 AM
Should it be assumed that anyone planning to be 'green' after death will eschew enbalming as well?
Darnit guys, I was so
proud of that one! *Sigh* - a sure sign I 'talk' too much on here?
Quote from: Newt on February 03, 2010, 10:17:45 AM
Quote from: Newt on January 30, 2010, 08:56:52 AM
Should it be assumed that anyone planning to be 'green' after death will eschew enbalming as well?
Darnit guys, I was so proud of that one! *Sigh* - a sure sign I 'talk' too much on here?
Oh, now I get it. The 'green' is literal. I thought you were making a point. The biodegradable casket doesn't mean as much if you're full of chemicals. Made sense to me that way.
Quote from: AndyC on February 03, 2010, 12:11:43 PM
Quote from: Newt on February 03, 2010, 10:17:45 AM
Quote from: Newt on January 30, 2010, 08:56:52 AM
Should it be assumed that anyone planning to be 'green' after death will eschew enbalming as well?
Darnit guys, I was so proud of that one! *Sigh* - a sure sign I 'talk' too much on here?
Oh, now I get it. The 'green' is literal. I thought you were making a point. The biodegradable casket doesn't mean as much if you're full of chemicals. Made sense to me that way.
:tongueout: Well, I was hoping it could come off both ways: as a sort of pun, if you will. Guess I was trying too hard (which always spoils it).
Quote from: Newt on February 03, 2010, 12:31:18 PM
Quote from: AndyC on February 03, 2010, 12:11:43 PM
Quote from: Newt on February 03, 2010, 10:17:45 AM
Quote from: Newt on January 30, 2010, 08:56:52 AM
Should it be assumed that anyone planning to be 'green' after death will eschew enbalming as well?
Darnit guys, I was so proud of that one! *Sigh* - a sure sign I 'talk' too much on here?
Oh, now I get it. The 'green' is literal. I thought you were making a point. The biodegradable casket doesn't mean as much if you're full of chemicals. Made sense to me that way.
:tongueout: Well, I was hoping it could come off both ways: as a sort of pun, if you will. Guess I was trying too hard (which always spoils it).
Newt, I think the problem is you're just too clever for us... I'm kicking myself for letting that one go over my head. In fact, I'm green with envy that you got off such a good pun!