Would you rather be cremated or buried?

and why?

Oddly, I don't want either of those. I would just want to be left out in the open on the plains somewhere. I know it must sound weird but that's what I want. My cousin's grandmother had her husband cremated (Yes, he was dead.). She took his gold teeth, had them melted down and made a ring!

I refuse to be embalmed. I dare any funeral director to try and come near me with that crazy machine.

Serious: I would/will be buried in some sarcophagus in some random UK cemetary.

I'd rather be buried. Preferably in a way where my remains can actually "go back to the earth". I've always had this fantasy of having a young tree planted over my remains, so that I can, even in death, help support the cycle of life. However, this is, as I said, just a fantasy. In their grief people want to go all out in a funeral, and it seems disrespectful to some to bury a loved one without a coffin or in a poorly made one... so most likely my family, when I am dead, will bury me in an expensive box so that my remains can be preserved for a long time without being used for anything.

However, I don't really care that much. When I'm dead I'm dead... not around to care about what is being done with my dead body. Funerals are for the living; my family will and should do whatever comforts them most.

I've got papers signed and witnessed by my parents to have my body sent to the University of Tennessee when I die.. They're going to set me out in the woods and study me as I rot. Not only do I get to go back to the earth, but I get to help science as well!

The second I saw the title of this thread (and every time I saw it thereafter), a Monty Python sketch popped into my head. Those who are easily offended, don't read on...

The Undertaker's Sketch from Monty Python's Contractual Obligations Album

MAN: (entering a shop) Um, excuse me, is this the undertaker's?
UNDERTAKER: Yup, that's right, what can I do for you, squire?
M: Um, well, I wonder if you can help me. My mother has just died
and I'm not quite sure what I should do.
U: Ah, well, we can 'elp you. We deal with stiffs.
M: (aghast) Stiffs?
U: Yea. Now there's three things we can do with your mum. We can bury
her, burn her, or dump her.
M: Dump her?
U: Dump her in the Thames.
M: (still aghast) What?
U: Oh, did you like her?
M: Yes!
U: Oh well, we won't dump her, then. Well, what do you think: burn her,
or bury her?
M: Um, well, um, which would you recommend?
U: Well they're both nasty. If we burn her, she gets stuffed in the flames,
crackle, crackle, crackle, which is a bit of a shock if she's not
quite dead. But quick. And then you get a box of ashes, which you can
pretend are hers.
M: (timidly) Oh.
U: Or, if you don't wanna fry her, you can bury her. And then she'll get
eaten up by maggots and weevils, nibble, nibble, nibble, which isn't
so hot if, as I said, she's not quite dead.
M: I see. Um. Well, I.. I.. I.. I'm not very sure. She's definitely dead.
U: Where is she?
M: In the sack.
U: Let's 'ave a look.

(FX: rustle of bag opening)

U: Umm, she looks quite young.
M: Yes, she was.
U: (over his shoulder) FRED!
F: (offstage) Yea!
U: I THINK WE'VE GOT AN EATER!
F: (offstage) I'll get the oven on!
M: Um, er...excuse me, um, are you... are you suggesting we should
eat my mother?
(pause)
U: Yeah. Not raw, not raw. We cook her. She'd be delicious with a few
french fries, a bit of stuffing. Delicious! (smacks his lips)
M: What! (he stammers)
(pause)
M: Actually, I do feel a bit peckish - No! NO, I can't!
U: Look, we'll eat your mum. Then, if you feel a bit guilty about it
afterwards, we can dig a grave and you can throw up into it.
M: All right.

Runt said:

I'd rather be buried. Preferably in a way where my remains can actually "go back to the earth". I've always had this fantasy of having a young tree planted over my remains, so that I can, even in death, help support the cycle of life. However, this is, as I said, just a fantasy. In their grief people want to go all out in a funeral, and it seems disrespectful to some to bury a loved one without a coffin or in a poorly made one... so most likely my family, when I am dead, will bury me in an expensive box so that my remains can be preserved for a long time without being used for anything.

Click to expand...

I think if it's your wish to be buried in that manner, then get it in writing and explain to your family why it's important to you...even in their grief, I'm sure they'd want to follow your wishes. These 'green cemetaries' do exist, and I think they're a great idea - and an idea that is slowly spreading. There's probably one closer to you than you think. I also think having a tree planted over your remains is pretty cool...we always did that with pets that died when I was a kid (a plant of some sort, or a tree).
For me, I like that idea too...going back to the earth. I had previously wanted to be cremated, and my ashes scattered in some significant place to me. But upon reflection, I decided that I didn't want the smoke from me being created, adding to the pollution that already exists.

That's great, Bastet! Ah, how I love Monty Python...

I want to be cremated and tossed into the Gulf of Mexico.

Why?
Because its cheap and I like the Gulf of Mexico.

I never really thought about it much, but I remember when my grandfather died a few years ago, watching them lowering the coffin into the ground and thinking how horrible it would be to wake up in a little box, buried under 6 feet of dirt. It played on my mind for weeks after. I can't stand the idea of being buried.