Scientist says cremation should meet a timely death

(AFP) ^ | Wed Apr 18, 10:30 AM ET | Staff Writer (apparently)

[Triggerhippie]

SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian scientist called Wednesday for an end to the age-old tradition of cremation, saying the practice contributed to global warming.

Professor Roger Short said people could instead choose to help the environment after death by being buried in a cardboard box under a tree.

The decomposing bodies would provide the tree with nutrients, and the tree would convert carbon dioxide into life-giving oxygen for decades, he said.

"The important thing is, what a shame to be cremated when you go up in a big bubble of carbon dioxide," Short told AFP.

"Why waste all that carbon dioxide on your death?"

Short said the cremation of the average male in Australia, during which the body is heated to 850 degrees Celsius (1,562 degrees Fahrenheit) for 90 minutes, produced more than 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of carbon dioxide.

And that doesn't include the carbon cost of fuel, or the cost of the emissions released during the production and burning of the wooden casket.

Short, a reproductive biologist at the University of Melbourne, said the contribution of cremation to harmful greenhouse gases was small, and he did not wish to prevent people from choosing how their body was disposed of according to their religion.

But to bury the hatchet with environmentalists, he suggested it would not be a bad idea to bequeath one's body as food for a forest.

"You can actually do, after your death, an enormous amount of good for the planet," he said. "The more forests you plant, the better."

[Triggerhippie]

What kind of crazy stuff is this?

[taxesareforever]

Professor Roger Short said people could instead choose to help the environment after death by being buried in a cardboard box under a tree.

I could choose this but the law won't allow it.

[Red Badger]

This was actually a preferred method of interrment by the Bene Gessaret, in the Dune series Sci-Fi books........

[pandoraou812]

Don’t know but maybe you should send it to Al Gore.

[BookaT]

Gibberish!

Oh yeah the mighty “The tree only gives us O2” argument. Until it dies and decays, or burns, or well that is about all that happens to trees.

Unless you build it into a house and slow its decay.

[B.O. Plenty]

.......the age-old tradition of cremation, saying the practice contributed to global warming....

Too late, Dr.....If honey bees keep on disappearing...global warming is going to be the least of our problems

[Red Badger]

I had thought about this for myself also. I don’t know if the laws of Florida will allow it...........

[JJR RNCH]

Just wait until all the animals start digging up the bodies and dragging the remains all over the place. What a nut.

[synbad600]

And where are all the extra coffins going to be made, in someone's back yard?

And what about all the trees? Aren't they made of wood? Oh yea, cardboard boxes. But where do they come from? Factories or pixie dust?

[devane617]

There is a graveyard/cemetery in southeast Texas that sells plots for “natural burial — meaning no embalming, just planted in a degradable box.

[LibWhacker]

Oh, brother. Just for that, I think I WILL ask for cremation, though I prefer this:

[Red Badger]

Just wrap the body in linen. It was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me...........

[Red Badger]

I dunno if they allow that kind anymore.........

[P-40]

by being buried in a cardboard box under a tree.

All that digging would do wonders for the tree's roots. /sarc

[gimme1ibertee]

The same kind of stuff produced by Goreon.

[kawaii]

well cremation is pretty anti-Christian to begin with, though this alternative is pretty un-Christian as well...

[RobbyS]

A normal person would be saying this tongue in cheek.

[BenLurkin]

Is this satire?

[hardworking]

Well, hot darn! That John Edwards does it again! His private estate should be able to accommodate all of us as fertilizer.

[hsalaw]

He’s a modern day Jonathan Swift, making his own “Modest Proposal.”