[Jessica H (OP)]

Consider you want to be placed in a conventional cemetery.  What would be the most "green" option for burial- cremation (using lots of energy) - or a sealed casket- taking up space and locking up the nutrients in your body.  And how bad is the embalming fluid for the environment?

[Geezer]

Composting should be pretty good, don't you think?

[LeeE]

Get 'em to bury you without a casket, and upright to save space []

If the purpose of embalming fluid is to prevent the decay of organics then it's not going to be good for the environment, which is as much about organic decay as it is about life.

[chris]

Cremation uses about 7 gallons of diesel equivalent in energy terms and is therefore not such a good idea. One approach I heard of being tested in Scandinavia is to freeze someone in liquid nitrogen and then sonicate them (blast the body with ultrasound), causing it to disintegrate. The resulting "residue" would probably make very good fertiliser...

[Geezer]

Chris: I'm not sure that's so good either. Quite a bit of energy will be consumed in liquefying the nitrogen. Depending on the method, it might consume the equivalent of seven gallons of diesel!

Now, if we could be converted into bio-diesel, that would be really green, wouldn't you think?

[BenV]

Then there's the option of a Tibetan sky burial, where you're essentally left out for vultures. Not so good on the emmissions though unless you're already in Tibet.

[LeeE]

Then there's the option of a Tibetan sky burial, where you're essentally left out for vultures. Not so good on the emmissions though unless you're already in Tibet.

Do you mean that if you're in Tibet then you're probably already accustomed to being crapped on by vultures?

And we think that pigeons are bad enough!

[Karsten]

I am in favor of high temperature composting. If it works well for cattle it should work fine for human bodies. I would not mind. I mean - after I am dead.

Composting Cattle Carcasses
http://www.livestocktrail.uiuc.edu/dairynet/paperDisplay.cfm?ContentID=7651
"If managed properly, composting cattle carcasses can be an environmentally safe and economically feasible method to dispose of on-farm mortalities." 
"(...)animal carcass compost is a very good source of fertilizer for the crops".

[RD]

Get 'em to bury you without a casket, and upright to save space []

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk


The Aussies do a reusable casket too (with trapdoor exit)... http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s2206253.htm#

[kilgorethecat]

I'm glad someone mentioned "green" burial; it is a subject I've always been interested in.  I would be totally OK with them recycling any and every part of my body, whether by organ donation or good old decomposition!

And with maximum capacity coming around.....perhaps Soylent Green.

[LeeE]

...I would be totally OK with them recycling any and every part of my body...

Hey guys, long pig's back on the menu []

[kilgorethecat]

[litespeed]

One apparently obvious thing to do is simply "leave your body" to science. In that respect you would, technically speaking, continue to be productive after your own demise.

Strictly from an environmental point of view your remains would best be put to use laid in an open field out in the country. Lots of very effective and rapid recycling would take place. However, this is may not practical where you live, and may be illegal.

The traditional method of burial is undoubtedly still legal in places. Dig a hole someplace on your own property, place body therein; cover said hole with previously removed dirt. Certainly this was routine practice in America within living memory. Family cemetery plots on family farms are not rare.

Hey. Shop Around! There must STILL be churchyards or some such that do not require burial vaults and all the other trimmings! If you are really really sneaky you might just get by with a Heafty Trash Bag on collection day!

More seriously, contact your local authorities what they do with unclaimed bodies. Do the same!

[Geezer]

Certainly this was routine practice in America within living memory. Family cemetery plots on family farms are not rare.

Er, my friend buried his father on his farm a couple of years ago.

[echochartruse]

Get 'em to bury you without a casket, and upright to save space []

I believe they do that in Japan, great idea.

some may be interested in this link
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/04/natural-burial-expo-east.php?campaign=weekly_nl

[echochartruse]

Er, my friend buried his father on his farm a couple of years ago.

That is rare if not allowed here in Aus. any longer due to land being resold and redeveloped.

"Soylent Green" anyone?

[iva]

Save space and do it in the ocean. Some decomposable weights to keep you from floating and let the fish do the rest.