Burying our dead.

kneemos

Why don't we bury them upright?plots would be smaller and cheaper and councils would save money on new graveyards.

MadsL

I've been on my feet all my life, can I not have a lie-in once I'm dead ffs?!

The Narrator

Why do we bury them at all?

In the distant future those graveyards are going to be prime real estate, as there will be too many people and not enough land.

MadsL

The Narrator wrote: »

Why do we bury them at all?

In the distant future those graveyards are going to be prime real estate, as there will be too many people and not enough land.

We know where that leads....

Galwayguy35

The Narrator wrote: »

Why do we bury them at all?

In the distant future those graveyards are going to be prime real estate, as there will be too many people and not enough land.

So you think the graveyards will be ploughed up and houses built on them?

DEFTLEFTHAND

You know life isn't easy, you put up with a lot. It wears you down the day to day grind and the many emotional issues you encounter.

When it comes to the end you deserve to be laid to rest in a traditional six foot grave. You earned that plot.

There's no issue with space in graveyards in this country, believe me it will never become a problem. More land will be bought up for the purpose. Nobody will deny the dead their resting place.

Galwayguy35

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

You know life isn't easy, you put up with a lot. It wears you down the day to day grind and the many emotional issues you encounter.

When it comes to the end you deserve to be laid to rest in a traditional six foot grave. You earned that plot.

There's no issue with space in graveyards in this country, believe me it will never become a problem. More land will be bought up for the purpose. Nobody will deny the dead their resting place.

And pay well for it as well, grave plots ain't cheap to buy.

Lenin Skynard

The Narrator wrote: »

Why do we bury them at all?

In the distant future those graveyards are going to be prime real estate, as there will be too many people and not enough land.

Well they tend to get a bit smelly if you don't. Also, people don't really care about saving money for the economy when they're alive, even less so when they're dead.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

And pay well for it as well, grave plots ain't cheap to buy.

Yes and of course many go to the family plot. I know from experience Dublin has some crazy prices for graveyard real estate, the solicitor who the person made their will with usually takes care of the plot and undertaker fees at a later date with funds from the estate.

Sir Humphrey Appleby

Wont bother me I'm being cremated when the time comes.

Chinasea

We shouldn't be buried at all.

Haven't humans used enough of the world's resources when alive, yet many still want to continue to take space when they die.

Ridicules goolish, selfish practice.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Chinasea wrote: »

We shouldn't be buried at all.

Haven't humans used enough of the world's resources when alive, yet many still want to continue to take space when they die.

Ridicules goolish, selfish practice.

Resources my arse, the Earth went through many extremes before we came about. At the risk of sounding like Carlin how arrogant do you have to be to think that we've had any meanigful impact on this planet.

Chinasea

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

At the risk of sounding like Carlin how arrogant do you have to be to think that we've had any meanigful impact on this planet.

Height of HUMAN arrogance to want to take up space when you're dead.

Vincent Vega

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

So you think the graveyards will be ploughed up and houses built on them?

I'd reckon that a surprising amount of our own houses are built on grave sites from the past...
Exponential population growth probably suggests that that will again be the case sooner or later.

To be honest I think our traditional style of burial is a bit of a mad ritual to have persisted for so long.
I know most people probably don't see it this way, but personally I sorta feel weird and slightly uneasy with the idea of continuously visiting a gradually decaying box of bones.
I'll keep my memories and that's enough for me.

martinedwards

I fancy a sky burrial like the monks way up in the Himalayas.

Cut up the body and leave it for the vultures.

though round here it'd be rats.

stampydmonkey

Vincent Vega wrote: »

I'd reckon that a surprising amount of our own houses are built on grave sites from the past...
Exponential population growth probably suggests that that will again be the case sooner or later.

To be honest I think our traditional style of burial is a bit of a mad ritual to have persisted for so long.
I know most people probably don't see it this way, but personally I sorta feel weird and slightly uneasy with the idea of continuously visiting a gradually decaying box of bones.
I'll keep my memories and that's enough for me.

Different for a widow or widower who has been with their partner there entire life or a family mourning the death of a young family member. Visiting a grave can be very helpful and give them somewhere to express their grief.

But ya i want to be fired out of a canon into the sea with a cape on. Let me rest with the fishes

Sunnyisland

I shall be burnt and my ashes spread over my favourite places in the world.

tritium

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

So you think the graveyards will be ploughed up and houses built on them?

I saw a movie about that once

It didn't end well

Poltergeist I think it was called

Based on a true story ........

Cee-Jay-Cee

realies wrote: »

I shall be burnt and my ashes spread over my favourite places in the world.

And your going to leave the money to fund such a burial with who?

I want to be buried at sea. I want so so e to dig a hole in the water and put me in.

gozunda

martinedwards wrote: »

I fancy a sky burrial like the monks way up in the Himalayas.

Cut up the body and leave it for the vultures.

though round here it'd be rats.

I had a business idea based on that - was going to get my self a bunch of cute vultures.

Rent some land up one of our many mountain ranges and offer this service

then I though I possibly might get some objections. - can you imagine the odd passing motorists being scarred witless as a passing vulture accidenuly drops an arm on your windscreen!

Planning permission might be abut tough too I reckon - I still like vultures though

Burrying is overrated imo anyway the other solution that kinda solves everything is just two words


SOYLENT GREEN

now that's the ecological way to go....

ctrl-alt-delete

I want to be buried in one of those green cemeteries and in essence become a tree.

mattjack

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

I want to be buried in one of those green cemeteries and in essence become a tree.

And further down the road you could become a plank and get made into a coffin.

ctrl-alt-delete

mattjack wrote: »

And further down the road you could become a plank and get made into a coffin.

Or kindling for a cremation.

Zab

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Resources my arse, the Earth went through many extremes before we came about. At the risk of sounding like Carlin how arrogant do you have to be to think that we've had any meanigful impact on this planet.

Depends what you mean by "meaningful". We can an will impact on the planet in a way that will affect humans. Obviously we'll have little to no impact in the cosmic sense.

That said, I would imagine that letting people decompose under ground is actually more energy efficient than burning them. I don't know about when you stick in a fancy coffin and headstone though.

wolfpawnat

Having worked as an archaeologist I can tell you most people are dug up for roads not houses. So that 5 minute you now save Ennis to Galway I had to help dig up 130 skeletons from 1000AD. No one is safe from development.

If you don't approve of burial, let your family know, respect other people's right to. Other cultures have their own thing, ours is either bury or cremation.

McDermotX

kneemos wrote: »

Why don't we bury them upright?plots would be smaller and cheaper and councils would save money on new graveyards.

It's already done in Australia for one. Has been the last couple of years, at least in some parts due to space concerns.
You freeze the body and slide it in.........sort of like a reverse ice-pop.

galwayrush

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

Or kindling for a cremation.

Isn't creamation Gas.:D

galwayrush

wolfpawnat wrote: »

Having worked as an archaeologist I can tell you most people are dug up for roads not houses. So that 5 minute you now save Ennis to Galway I had to help dig up 130 skeletons from 1000AD. No one is safe from development.

If you don't approve of burial, let your family know, respect other people's right to. Other cultures have their own thing, ours is either bury or cremation.

I thought snails were safe from developers in Clare.

Satts

realies wrote: »

I shall be burnt and my ashes spread over my favourite places in the world.

Wouldn't that create a large carbon foot print ?

wolfpawnat

galwayrush wrote: »

I thought snails were safe from developers in Clare.

Well I worked the N18 road and the snails may have been safe, but 1000 year old remains were not!

kylith

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

I want to be buried in one of those green cemeteries and in essence become a tree.

Me too. I used to want to be cremated, but then I thought about the pollution, and I quite like the idea that I could be dug up in 500 years and put in a museum

UCDVet

kneemos wrote: »

Why don't we bury them upright?plots would be smaller and cheaper and councils would save money on new graveyards.

Practically....
You need to get them a certain distance below the surface to prevent smells and animals digging them up.

It's much easier to dig a wide hole 2 meters down than it is to dig a narrow hole 3 meters deep.

Religiously/Spiritually....
People are more comfortable 'laying someone to rest' (we rest laying down) than standing them up for eternity.

I'd love to be launched into space. I won't know the difference, but I fancy hurtling around the galaxy.

Capt'n Midnight

Soylent Green FTW

Galwayguy35

tritium wrote: »

I saw a movie about that once

It didn't end well

Poltergeist I think it was called

Based on a true story ........

A different film came to my mind.

Pet Cemetery.

Galwayguy35

It's a tradition around here where the neighbours will make the grave for people whose family member has died, think it's probably more of a rural thing these days though.

Artful_Badger

People should be cremated, its a bit outdated to be sticking dead people in holes in the ground.

Jose1

Chinasea wrote: »

many still want to continue to take space when they die.

Surely you know that matter cannot be created or destroyed:rolleyes:

FortuneChip

Cremation rules out the possibility of Zombification.
Burn em all!

Altreab

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

It's a tradition around here where the neighbours will make the grave for people whose family member has died, think it's probably more of a rural thing these days though.

Yeah it seems to be and from where i am the neighbours also take turns filling in the grave. Everything done there and then. grave completely finished including the replacement of the green sod before mourners leave. IMHO it helps with the grieving process.

Martonio

I wouldn't mind giving taxidermy a go. Sit there on my favourite chair with a motion sensor that spouts off some sentences or words like "Hey! You! Get away"

Sulla Felix

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

So you think the graveyards will be ploughed up and houses built on them?

Wolf Tone square on Jervis St used to be St Marys graveyard. It's been a park for years, so when it comes time to rezone it, I bet there won't be any outcry because people don't remember it was a graveyard. Clever, eh?

wretcheddomain

kneemos wrote: »

Why don't we bury them upright?plots would be smaller and cheaper and councils would save money on new graveyards.

Have you lost the plot or something?

justforlaugh

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2376190/Chopped-fed-vultures-glimpse-closely-guarded-tradition-Tibetan-sky-funeral.html

Pang

I think I'd go the route of medical science and then get cremated.

I'll be dead so what the hell. No point spending a small fortune, buying a casket and a plot etc... Not like I'll be experiencing it or anything.

Mozzeltoff

I always like the idea of a viking burial..

Martonio

There is a lot to be said about donating your body to medical science.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32145.Stiff

This is a great book about what sort of science your body is contributing to. It is a great read and very funny.

getzls

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

So you think the graveyards will be ploughed up and houses built on them?

That does happen.
Bodies are removed first.

mf240

The Narrator wrote: »

Why do we bury them at all?

In the distant future those graveyards are going to be prime real estate, as there will be too many people and not enough land.

Ghost estates?

errlloyd

I have no problem with graves, but graveyards can change. There will always be a demand for green space and park space. I think graveyards can be more than a den for the gone and grieving, they should bring some life into the place.

Toby Take a Bow

Chinasea wrote: »

We shouldn't be buried at all.

Haven't humans used enough of the world's resources when alive, yet many still want to continue to take space when they die.

Ridicules goolish, selfish practice.

I think you would have a point if when buried we stayed in a mummified state, but our bodies are broken down and used by bacteria, insects, worms, etc. I take it your solution is to be cremated which would surely impact in a more negative way in terms of pollution and less matter for things on earth to convert to resources.

I think in Spain or Catalonia they have a time limit on plots for burial. When the time limit is up, your bones are removed and it's resold. I would say it's the way of the future as space becomes more of an issue with an increasing populace.