There are "green burial" places in North Carolina. >If you use a casket, it must be biodegradable. >You may not use embalming fluids. >They bury you 3 feet deep so you may become part of the topsoil (NC law says 18" of covering soil suffices.) >Friends and family are encouraged to participate. >They are 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of traditional burials. There may be others around the nation. I recall seeing some news show blurb on one such place that did not even permit markers...you got GPS coordinates. Here's one that at least permits stones to be stacked as markers (I have graves on my property that are marked this way.) Encouraging families to participate takes things full circle. These life events (funerals, wedding) that used to be part of "community" are now contracted out, much to our detriment.
I used to watch a woman named Phyllis Stokes on Youtube; she made a ton of cooking videos, mostly the foods like our grandmas used to make. I got attached to Phyllis and her husband, "Mr. Bucky." They were from South Carolina and both of them died a few months apart last year. They had natural burials, wrapped in cotton shrouds; no coffins. Here's a slideshow of the facility where they are buried; I see that one "coffin" is made of wicker. https://dusttodustcemetery.com/photo-gallery Seems like a good solution to me, though I don't want to be buried. I choose cremation.
I've left instructions in writing. If I die in bed I want my remains to be wrapped in the sheet and blankets in that bed and buried within tan hour or two at the local natural burial site. No casket. If my survivors want a celebration it can happen without my remains.
Definitely Cremation. Years ago I read about people being buried alive and it scared me to no end. I think if still alive then being burnt would be quicker than running out of air.
Welcome to the forum, @John McRae. It's not allowed in some places but the whole funeral home embalming operation isn't required in some places, such as Texas, where people can dig a hole and buy you. When land tended to stay in the hands of the same family through generations, we had family cemetery plots and I love that idea, but people move around too much, and what happens to your family cemetery plot when the land is no longer in the hands of your family? In Los Fresnos, Texas, where i once lived, people were unhappy with the municipal cemetery board, so a group of people got together and bought a large plot of land, starting their own cemetery. Family members could dig the hole and assemble the casket, if they wanted to, and be buried there without all of the red tape. I think I'd like to be buried but I don't necessarily want to burden my wife with the expense. Yes, I know that these things can be prepaid but there's still the expense.
This has brought to mind a thought I have had for a while. Cremation is supposed to be the "environmentally-positive" answer to human remains disposal. Thinking in this way, wouldn't incinerating our garbage in gas-fired incinerators be the environmentally friendly solution the the waste problem, thus allowing us to return to "dumps", dedicated to non-burnables. Perhaps we could then shoot the garbage ashes into space as well.
My adopto-mom wanted to be cremated then buried in the same grave as adopto-dad. I never could figure out the purpose for this. One or the other, fine, but why both?
Well, I haven't thought about this much, but since others are offering their view, I might as well give mine too. We are in this "earthly tent" for a short time, and I was somewhat upset when my wife took me about 20 years ago to see the plot that her family was saving for me. I had to walk away. Although I believe I'll be gone to a better place, I'm in no hurry to get to it, but I was relieved somewhat to see that it was under a shade tree. So this got me to thinking. I don't like the idea of Jeff Bezos slinging me out into space (sorry Lon), and I don't like the spot I'm going to, even if it is in the shade. I’m going to opt for the bio urn, which is a bio degradable device that the cremains are placed in and can be used to help grow a tree. This way, my ashes can be connected to the earth, and my forebears can look at the tree to remember me. And what a great honor it would be for me to have some of my future offspring to hug the tree. This way I can feel that I have done something useful and help provide some shade, feed the squirrels and ground hogs, and such. I think I will ask to be planted with an acorn from the Bur Oak. The reason for the Bur Oak is that it is hardy, can withstand wind, drought, hail, ice damage, and require no cooling period to sprout, so acorns gathered in the fall can be planted in containers immediately. They grow fast enough to transplant fairly quickly, and their bark protects it from sun scald as well as fire, to some degree. The Bur Oak ranks high on almost all top shade tree lists. When planted one knows they will be enjoyed for the next 100 years. Future generations of children (as well as squirrels) will be eternally grateful!