[Greenbuilding] Green Death

[Lawrence Lile]

 So much for recycling: Burials in America deposit 827,060 gallons of
embalming fluid-formaldehyde, methanol, and ethanol-into the soil each
year. Cremation pumps dioxins, hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxide, and
carbon dioxide into the air.  It is actually legal in some states to
bury corpses without embalming, however it takes special procedures (I
know someone who insisted they be buried in this manner).  

 Alternatively . . . A Swedish company, Promessa, will freeze-dry your
body in liquid nitrogen, pulverize it with high-frequency vibrations,
and seal the resulting powder in a cornstarch coffin. They claim this
"ecological burial" will decompose in 6 to 12 months. 

I wonder how much Carbon Dioxide each of us will turn into if we are
cremated?  

Personally I'll donate my body to science.  Let some med student learn
how to transplant livers on me.  They'll end up cremating me anyway but
at least I'll hit a lick for science on the way out.  


-Lawrence Lile