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In my humble opinion, people should be able to do whatever the hell they want with their bodies when they die.
Want to be buried? Cool.
Leaning toward getting cremated? Go for it!
Want to be put on a raft and set on fire and pushed out to sea? Actually, I’m not sure if that’s legal, but it sounds pretty cool.
The question posed to AskReddit users was, “Should all people be cremated because cemeteries are a waste of space?”
Let’s check out the responses.
1. More trees, please.
“Keep the cemeteries, but instead of just burying people’s bodies, bury them with a tree seed.
So we can have a bunch of trees instead of rotting dead bodies.”
2. A place to remember.
“I’m still happy to have a place to go and sit and still talk with my husband even though he’s six feet below now.
I feel like it may not be quite the same if it was just ashes to the wind.
I like to picture both of us together on that mountainside someday.”
3. Habitats.
“In a lot of cities, cemeteries are important habitat for a lot of animals and birds.
They’re large stretches of green space that aren’t too frequently visited by (living) people, so are important refuges.
Although I agree with you that there are less impactful methods of interment, and I don’t want to be buried, I quietly support them for the animals.”
4. To each their own.
“I have opted for a green burial when my time comes. The whole embalming-casket-headstone thing creeps me out.
But I get that green burials creep other people out. It’s just that my way leaves room for future generations unlike traditional graveyards.”
5. Please cremate me.
“I want to be cremated and spread in the forests of my home, laws allowing.
My fiancé is wholeheartedly against this, wanting to be buried side by side.
I don’t like being around a lot of people while I’m alive, what makes you think I want to be close to other people in death for eternity?”
6. I agree, BUT…
“I do think that some cemeteries are way too big and a waste of space, but as someone who lost both of my grandparents this year, I’m very glad to be able to go and see them.
I have a big family, and if they weren’t buried, I would have to go to someone else’s house to see their urns.
Since they’re in a cemetery, I can go and sit and talk to them about what’s going on as long as I want.”
7. Emotional support.
“Having a place to go visit a loved one even after they pass away is a huge emotional support for many people.”
8. Respect the dead.
“I don’t necessarily like cemeteries and what they do, but all matters of body disposal isn’t really environmentally friendly regardless. My biggest thing about death is respecting the dead.
Do what they want you to do with their body. Don’t be disrespectful because “they’re dead and don’t care”. Like if they told you a plan, they obviously cared while they were here and did not want you to do the opposite.
Your final say before you die is how you shall be taken care of and it disgusts me when a family doesn’t respect the final request because they don’t agree with it.”
9. A new idea.
“Cremation is a terrible waste of fuel and source of pollution.
What would make sense is to bury bodies in a biodegradable sack, and after they’ve decomposed for 50 years or so, after everyone who remembered them is dead, recycle the ground for another grave.”
10. Make them more beautiful.
“Some people are (due to religion) are only allowed to be buried.
But I think they should make cemetery’s more like….parks? Like maybe some trees and have like sidewalks.
It would be more prettier and also less depressing that bodies just laying all in a row.”
11. Get natural.
“Cremation increases the carbon footprint. Each death is 100 L of fuel and 200 kg of CO2.
It also risks burning the cremation center (anything that handles fires, gets fires).
I recommend natural burials: no casket, no chemicals, bury me directly in a field. I just become anonymous compost, and create trees or something.”
12. See you on the road!
“I don’t get why people are so caught up with being preserved after death.
It might be the atheist in me but throw me in the middle of the road and use me as a temporary speed bump.
At least that is more useful than being placed in a cemetery.”
13. Interesting point of view.
“If I learned one thing about cemeteries when working in one for some time, it’s that they exist to serve the living rather than the dead.
The dead don’t care, but the living need somewhere to mourn, somewhere memorialize their loved ones. We remain protective of our loved ones remains even after death, and burying them in a safe and beautiful place helps us in our grief.
This is what people critical of cemeteries don’t understand.
Another thing people often aren’t aware of is that the picture of a cemetery as a somber resting place that’s off limits for anything but grief hasn’t always been the case.
In the Victorian era it was perfectly common to hold picnics and other activities in the cemetery amongst your loved ones. In some senses it was a park, just one that bad a bunch of rocks in it.
If we went back to this mentality we wouldn’t have such as issue with cemeteries being a waste of space.”
14. Create gardens.
“Make it into a botanical gardens.
People pay for ceremonies where the deceased person’s ashes are scattered over the Japanese garden or the rose garden or the bamboo forest. Maybe put up kiosks of people’s names on small plaques with names and dates of birth/death.
Then people who want to visit their deceased loved ones can do so in beautiful surroundings.”
15. And then, there’s this.
“In the words of Danny De Vito, “when I’m dead just throw me in the trash.””
Cremation or burial?
What do you think you’d prefer?
Talk to us in the comments and let us know how you feel about this subject. Thanks!
