# Composting "Grandpa in the Garden" bill has passed in Arizona **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2024, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350 "2024-04-16T05:17:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/81 "2024-04-19T14:15:14Z")
I have a friend named Sharon. She thinks a lot about what will happen with her remains after she dies. She has a bug phobia, so burial is absolutely out. She is afraid of fire and so doesn’t want cremation just in case she could feel it. Her solution is to be wrapped in a comforter and placed in their deep freeze. She is cool with being frozen. She has even set the chest freezer up the way she wants it, with a tablecloth, candles, and a memory book of favorite photographs. She took pictures of the set-up and had prints made for her husband, who will be in charge of doing all this. I love Sharon and do not wish death on her, but on the other hand I’m curious about what will happen. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/82 "2024-04-19T15:01:59Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > I think the custom of burying valuables with a corpse is rather wasteful to be honest. Decomposing meat has no use for a wedding ring or pretty necklace, I can’t understand why the families don’t keep their treasured objects as memory tokens. In some cultures, at many points in history, burying honored dead with valuables was how those left behind provided for that person’s comfort in the afterlife. Including, at times, killing and burying wives, horses, dogs with the deceased. Perhaps the modern custom is a faint echo of that impulse. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/83 "2024-04-19T15:04:26Z")
Maybe she should listen to this. Or not. > **[Mistakes Were Made - This American Life](https://www.thisamericanlife.org/354/mistakes-were-made)** > > Freezing dead people so scientists can reanimate them in the future is a lot harder than it sounds. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/84 "2024-04-19T15:05:34Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > She took pictures of the set-up and had prints made for her husband, who will be in charge of doing all this. Has she set up a fund for his legal fees? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/85 "2024-04-19T15:10:10Z")
Hah! No. She is funny. Her husband lost the end of his left pinkie finger in a work related accident. He received a small settlement (I think it was $10,000). When she gets drunk she tells people her husband is a pussy because he refused to cut off the end of his right pinkie for the cash. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/86 "2024-04-19T15:13:43Z")
@kayaker Two words to Sharon: Power Outage. Sharon should check with County and State laws and regulations. If she’s within city limits, there could be a local law or ordinance about what is not acceptable. Just to be thorough, get a copy of the filed tract map that shows her subdivision lot. On the first page of the tract map, there could be some rather stringent stipulations. Look for any mention of the tract having “Codes, Covenants, and Restrictions.” Yep, more rules. And those are VERY binding. Finally, see what local law enforcement thinks about the whole get-up. Five, ten, twenty years from now, the local police could be doing a perfectly legal search of the premises, only to open that old freezer in the basement. Gah! A descendant could get handcuffs and a jail cell just until the situation is figured out. There was a huge interest in freezing dead people in the hopes one day they could be thawed out and revived. One company was located in Southern California. Supposedly, when making future popsicle arrangements for yourself, you’d purchase an insurance policy payable to the company when you die. This step occurs after you’ve already signed on the dotted line and paid for the body retrieval, preparation, and freezing compartment. The insurance money is to pay for “perpetual care.” Sort of. The company went out of business, and the staff must have snuck away. The power bill went unpaid, and well, you know. Families were not notified, and it was a mess. Figuratively and actually. Sharon needs another plan. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/87 "2024-04-19T15:30:41Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > only to open that old freezer in the basement. Basement? Oh, no! Sharon wants it upstairs in the kitchen where it currently resides. > [@VOW](#): > > Sharon should check with County and State laws and regulations. Sharon doesn’t care much about laws and regulations. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/88 "2024-04-19T15:40:55Z")
“You might think I’m a meat and potatoes kind of guy. But you’re wrong. I’m a soup kind of guy.” - old Elby’s Restaurant commercial. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/89 "2024-04-19T15:48:25Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > > [@VOW](#): > > > > Sharon should check with County and State laws and regulations. > > Sharon doesn’t care much about laws and regulations. Sharon should focus on living, knowing that she’s already taken care of what will happen after she’s dead. And whoever gets stuck dealing with Sharon’s body should ignore her wishes, and do something legal and convenient. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/90 "2024-04-19T15:50:52Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > And whoever gets stuck dealing with Sharon’s body should ignore her wishes, and do something legal and convenient. After all, she won’t be able to kick up a fuss once she’s kicked the bucket. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/91 "2024-04-19T15:57:31Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > she won’t be able to kick up a fuss once she’s kicked the bucket. You obviously don’t know Sharon! 😆 ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/92 "2024-04-19T15:59:26Z")
Thank goodness I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/93 "2024-04-19T16:24:48Z")
no soup for you! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/94 "2024-04-19T16:29:01Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > Please don’t think I’m attacking you or anything, but why do you feel that human bodies should be respected after death? Yeah, it’s a bizarre notion, for sure. I prefer the Navajo views on it. Their belief in the spirit is strong and once it leaves, the body is meaningless and is buried with all haste. Don’t get me started on the bizarre custom of viewing the remains. > [@TRC4941](#): > > Have you ever lost a child or another close family member? Would you have no respect for their body? Would you say - “just throw it out, it’s just a piece of meat”? I’ve lost both parents, both siblings and one of my children. The corpse is just that. The life that made them who they were is gone. The rest is just leftovers. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/95 "2024-04-19T17:10:11Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The rest is just leftovers. Interesting comment/handle correlation. Remind me not to accept your invitation to a leftovers dinner. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/96 "2024-04-19T17:15:49Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Don’t get me started on the bizarre custom of viewing the remains. Jewish funerals are not open casket; but the family can privately view the body. My sister needed not to see our parents’ bodies. I needed to see them. Can’t explain why; but I needed to. Neither my sister nor I criticized the other’s reaction – people vary. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/97 "2024-04-19T17:50:27Z")
Soup to nuts. I say. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/98 "2024-04-19T18:07:49Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I have a friend named Sharon. She thinks a lot about what will happen with her remains after she dies. She has a bug phobia, so burial is absolutely out. She is afraid of fire and so doesn’t want cremation just in case she could feel it. In Florida, they have to have a certificate from a medical examiner prior to any cremation - presumably for just that reason. If she’s buried in a modern sealed casket (and aren’t they often enclosed in an outer vault?), bugs will not be an issue. If I were her husband, I’d smile and nod and agree to the asinine freezer idea, then once she shuffles off, do whatever I damn well please. Funerary arrangements are for the survivors, not the one who died. > [@Chefguy](#): > > Don’t get me started on the bizarre custom of viewing the remains. I went to an open casket funeral when I was 11 or so. It was more of a curiosity than anything (I was a weird kid). About 20 years ago, I was involved in helping friends arrange the funeral for their infant son. SIDS. It was open casket. I caught everyone I knew among the attendees, before they went into the chapel, to warn them. Several were from a Christian background, where this is more common; several others were Jewish, where as noted, it is NOT routine. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/99 "2024-04-19T18:24:03Z")
I’ve been to a few funerals. They’ve all been open casket. Even a mother and baby in the same casket. Now that was disturbing. It was a case of gas leak in the house. Very shocking and upsetting. Of course. I’ve never been to a funeral that was closed casket. Except, I was very small when my Mother died. Daddy didn’t let us see her dead. But apparently they had a viewing, just closed the casket at the service in deference to all us kids. I remember it upsetting my oldest brother. And Daddy trying to explain why. I used to think children shouldn’t be at funerals because of all that. I’m not sure anymore. If I think of myself. I certainly wouldn’t want my grandkids upset or scared. But who am I to deny them one last look. I just don’t know. I’m glad I won’t be making that decision. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350/100 "2024-04-19T19:05:19Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’ve been to a few funerals. I’ve been to very few. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > They’ve all been open casket. That’s one reason I’m not interested in attending. ETA: my mom took me to the funeral home when her grandmother died, and then two weeks later when her grandfather followed. My only memory from that age (under five) is seeing the dead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composting-grandpa-in-the-garden-bill-has-passed-in-arizona/1000350.md?page=6)