5 ms·

Compared to the energy you will use throughout your life, the energy used for a cremation is trivial (about a 5,000 mile drive). The alternative (burial) impac

Compared to the energy you will use throughout your life, the energy used for a cremation is trivial (about a 5,000 mile drive). The alternative (burial) impacts the environment considerably as well. There is plenty of land devoted to cemeteries. Trees or metal are used (once) for the casket. In many places, you also need a concrete vault, which would add to the impact.

jjoe 11y ago
But the resulting ash isn't biodegradable. Cemetery land can be reused after full decomposition and after enough time has passed.
- gknoy 11y ago
  Why are the ashes from cremation not biodegradeable?
- gambiting 11y ago
  How is it not biodegradable? It's mostly carbon and calcium, right? In which case it's as natural as it can be - saying it's not biodegradable is like saying that rocks are not biodegradable. You could probably use it as a fertilizer(not that you would want to, respect towards the deceased and all that) and it would be absolutely fine. Cemetery land is essentially locked for hundreds of years, probably more since no one wants to be turning 500-year old graves into farmland.
  - cptskippy 11y ago
    > You could probably use it as a fertilizer(not that you would want to, respect towards the deceased and all that) That's exactly what I'd want my ashes used for.
    - sandworm101 11y ago
      That's what happens to pet ashes in my area. There is a farm outside of town that accepts the ash and ploughs it into fields.
  - chimeracoder 11y ago
    > probably more since no one wants to be turning 500-year old graves into farmland. In Manhattan, the place that is now Washington Square Park was once the location of mass graves for people who died of yellow fever during an epidemic. Before that, it was used as farmland. That said, this is far from the norm in the US - New York is one of the few places where this could happen, due to the scarcity of space, and it's also unclear whether people remembered the locations of the graves at the time the park was constructed.
  - Spooky23 11y ago
    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.
    - pixl97 11y ago
      >Rocks aren't biodegradable. I'm sorry, but what? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen 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 structures. For example, there is an ongoing lichen growth problem on Mount Rushmore National Memorial that requires the employment of mountain-climbing conservators to clean the monument. and >The lichen exudates, which have powerful chelating capacity, the widespread occurrence of mineral neoformation, particularly metal oxalates, together with the characteristics of weathered substrates, all confirm the significance of lichens as chemical weathering agents.[96] It's believed lichen may be as old as 2.7 billion years, so they may have beat out every other form of biodegradation by a good margin.
      - Spooky23 11y ago
        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.
        gambiting 11y ago
        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.
- joe5150 11y ago
  Caskets and especially burial vaults aren't decomposing any time soon.
- sandworm101 11y ago
  >> ...after enough time has passed. That time is a century or more. The US national cemetery (Arlington) is nearly full. Even after 150 year nobody would dare suggest reusing even the oldest plots.
- mattstreet 11y ago
  Full decomposition ends up putting the same minerals into the soil that your ash contains. So the ash is already just as "biodegraded" as the body ends up, just mixed it in to soil.
stcredzero 11y ago
Compared to the energy you will use throughout your life, the energy used for a cremation is trivial (about a 5,000 mile drive). Most US car owners drive at most 10,000 miles a year. A half year's driving? That's only a trivial energy use by 1st and 0th world standards. Human composting seems like a good idea to me: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/science/a-project-to-turn-corpses-into-compost.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/science/a-project-to-turn-...
- nommm-nommm 11y ago
  The average american drives 13,476 miles a year. 16,550 for males and 10,142 for women. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/onh00/bar8.htm https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/onh00/bar8.htm
mikeash 11y ago
Does cremation really use the energy equivalent of 100-200 gallons of gasoline? That seems like a huge amount, considering a typical human body has maybe 20 gallons of flesh. This page says it's equivalent to a 500 mile drive, which is much more believable: http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/index.php?page=cremation http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/index.php?page=cremation

jjoe 11y ago

But the resulting ash isn't biodegradable. Cemetery land can be reused after full decomposition and after enough time has passed.

gknoy 11y ago
Why are the ashes from cremation not biodegradeable?
gambiting 11y ago
How is it not biodegradable? It's mostly carbon and calcium, right? In which case it's as natural as it can be - saying it's not biodegradable is like saying that rocks are not biodegradable. You could probably use it as a fertilizer(not that you would want to, respect towards the deceased and all that) and it would be absolutely fine. Cemetery land is essentially locked for hundreds of years, probably more since no one wants to be turning 500-year old graves into farmland.
- cptskippy 11y ago
  > You could probably use it as a fertilizer(not that you would want to, respect towards the deceased and all that) That's exactly what I'd want my ashes used for.
  - sandworm101 11y ago
    That's what happens to pet ashes in my area. There is a farm outside of town that accepts the ash and ploughs it into fields.
- chimeracoder 11y ago
  > probably more since no one wants to be turning 500-year old graves into farmland. In Manhattan, the place that is now Washington Square Park was once the location of mass graves for people who died of yellow fever during an epidemic. Before that, it was used as farmland. That said, this is far from the norm in the US - New York is one of the few places where this could happen, due to the scarcity of space, and it's also unclear whether people remembered the locations of the graves at the time the park was constructed.
- Spooky23 11y ago
  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.
  - pixl97 11y ago
    >Rocks aren't biodegradable. I'm sorry, but what? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen 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 structures. For example, there is an ongoing lichen growth problem on Mount Rushmore National Memorial that requires the employment of mountain-climbing conservators to clean the monument. and >The lichen exudates, which have powerful chelating capacity, the widespread occurrence of mineral neoformation, particularly metal oxalates, together with the characteristics of weathered substrates, all confirm the significance of lichens as chemical weathering agents.[96] It's believed lichen may be as old as 2.7 billion years, so they may have beat out every other form of biodegradation by a good margin.
    - Spooky23 11y ago
      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.
      - gambiting 11y ago
        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.
joe5150 11y ago
Caskets and especially burial vaults aren't decomposing any time soon.
sandworm101 11y ago
>> ...after enough time has passed. That time is a century or more. The US national cemetery (Arlington) is nearly full. Even after 150 year nobody would dare suggest reusing even the oldest plots.
mattstreet 11y ago
Full decomposition ends up putting the same minerals into the soil that your ash contains. So the ash is already just as "biodegraded" as the body ends up, just mixed it in to soil.

stcredzero 11y ago

Compared to the energy you will use throughout your life, the energy used for a cremation is trivial (about a 5,000 mile drive). Most US car owners drive at most 10,000 miles a year. A half year's driving? That's only a trivial energy use by 1st and 0th world standards. Human composting seems like a good idea to me: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/science/a-project-to-turn-corpses-into-compost.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/science/a-project-to-turn-...

nommm-nommm 11y ago
The average american drives 13,476 miles a year. 16,550 for males and 10,142 for women. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/onh00/bar8.htm https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/onh00/bar8.htm

mikeash 11y ago

Does cremation really use the energy equivalent of 100-200 gallons of gasoline? That seems like a huge amount, considering a typical human body has maybe 20 gallons of flesh. This page says it's equivalent to a 500 mile drive, which is much more believable: http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/index.php?page=cremation http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/index.php?page=cremation