I see. I think a casket is legally required for mausoleums in the U.S.
~Max
I spent much time with my Daddy’s body. And yes I touched him. My hand on his. Patting his forehead. Kissed his face.
Distressed my siblings in the the worst way.
I was kinda insane because he died so suddenly without any warning.
As for cremains or compost dirt, it’s more of a germ thing, I’m phobic about it. Yes, I realize it’s probably not germy. But, it’s me. Totally me.
You know, @puzzlegal , that post distressed me.
I think when the death was horrific as from an attack it’s got to be worse. I’m sorry for your experience and your cat.
I’m hoping they legalize composting in IL. Last year it was blocked for some BS reason I don’t specifically recall. I understand it will be reintroduced.
My first choice is the body farm. Even have my outfit picked out. But my wife says no dice (presuming I go first.)
So I say she’ll have to get one of those big compost tumblers for the backyard, turn it every couple of days (Ka-chunk, ka-chunk.) 
I love the idea of everyone stopping by for a party and going home w/ a shovel full of me to spread in their gardens.
I doubt it. First, that would be governed by state law, not federal law, and the states vary a lot. Second, i tried googling that, and while weirdly, i didn’t find anything useful about mausoleums, i found a lot about burial without a casket
Burial & Cremation Laws in Massachusetts | Nolo.
Although i wonder if a mausoleum wouldn’t want a stinking decaying body in their building.
Thank you. I was very distressed at the time, and took the dog’s owner to court to force them to better contain their dog.
For composting food waste, it’s recommended that you break the waste down into smaller pieces so that it will compost faster.
Would there be a similar step, for human remains? That might explain SOME of the higher cost…
This might be a more cost-effective way of achieving the same result - though I don’t think crops would be grown on the property. (eta, I see that several folks have mentioned the same idea).
I haven’t read linked articles, but in general, composting of food waste DOES involve bugs. Our home composter (which is a barrel-type, no contact with the ground at all) had quite a population of some kind of flies (soldier flies?). I can’t imagine that bugs or worms or something would NOT be a part of human composting.
This article was linked in the first post.
Over a 45-day process, we gently transform a body into nutrient-rich soil.
In the experience I described above, the woman passed away in November. The service in which the compost was spread took place in June.
Although the natural decomposition of human corpses into soil is a long-standing practice, a more rapid process that was developed in the early 21st century entails encasing human corpses in wood chips, straw, and alfafa until thermophile microbes decompose the body.[2] In this manner, the transformation can be sped up to as little as 1–2 months.[2] The accelerated process is based in part on techniques developed for the composting of livestock.[2]
no bugs. heat and plant material.
I stand corrected! I read one of the articles, and yep, no bugs involved. Nor any reduction to small pieces.
i am always on the look out for bugs. i was team cremation (no bugs) until compost came about, now i’m on team compost.
Not really. 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.
I also create disposable art and I totally do expect it to be destroyed, possibly by the first person who sees it. I don’t really do my works for other people, I do them to fill a need in my mind and when they are finished, I am done.
I do very expensive, award winning needlework and can spend over a year on a single piece. Once they are finished, most of them get looked at a couple of times and then put in a drawer with all of the other expensive pieces I’ve finished over the year. The only reason I bother to keep them is because someone will want one. I’ve also thrown a lot of finished pieces in the trash.
I really can kinda get what you are saying, but I really don’t understand at all despite your wonderful explanation. I appreciate you taking the time to try to explain it to someone who has a totally different mindset and I certainly don’t feel that you are wrong. They are your feelings and are just as valid as mine.
Your post is what made me take so long to come back. Yes, that is just how I feel. I’m firmly on Team Compost after Organ Donations. If it was legal to send the meat that looked like me to the landfill, I would object but only because that would be pretty wasteful.
We all process this sort of thing differently and if you wanted your body to be anointed and wrapped and prayed over, than that is what you should have.
I had a beloved cat put down a few days before your post and once the life left her body, it wasn’t the cat I used to cuddle with at night, it wasn’t the cat that brought me her toys every day, it wasn’t the cat I loved. It was a dead hunk of meat that sorta looked like a cat. I am still grieving for the loss of the cat, but once she was gone, I handed her over to the vet and walked away without a backward look. It wasn’t my cat anymore.
It’s not about the dead person, it’s about the living people. Outside of religion, and even within the context of religion - a funeral is for the benefit of the living. A family decides to bury the corpse (with a ring) and leave it undisturbed. Robbing that grave disrespects that family.
~Max
A friend and I discussed different ways to handle the dead. I think an in-ground burial is crazy, mostly bcause of the hideous expense. I told her we’d probably settle on cremation. The actual process creeps me out, but the cost is much less than burial and the absolute waste of money on a burial is more offensive than my personal objection to cremation.
My friend said she and her husband were resarching “green” methods. One way is to put the body in a closed vessel (similar to a pressure cooker?) and using nontoxic chemical solutions, heating the vessel until the body is dissolved. I don’t recall the final outcome of the vessel’s contents, that was probably used in composting.
I said, “You get turned into soup?”
I guess cremation is reasonable?
~VOW
VOW! Girl you kill me.
That’s funny. 
I like the idea of an in ground burial, especially with an unpreserved body in a biodegradable wrapper, so your body can naturally rot and turn to soil. I’ve buried all my cats, with a simple “shroud” of clean dry leaves or clean snow, because it feels more dignified than throwing dirt directly onto them.
But my mom cremated my dad, and i had my mom cremated. The expense of a burial is crazy, and putting the body into a big concrete box seems gross and unnatural. And it’s nice to have the ability to scatter the ashes most anywhere, and create a symbolic link between a favorite place and my parents.
I told my kids to do whatever works for them. If composting catches on and they get my body composted, that’s great. I hope they can use the compost to plant a tree or something.
Isn’t this a popular way for murderers to dispose of bodies? (at least in fiction). Though I think the stories reference acid, versus alkaline liquid.
The article says the result is green/brown liquid. It doesn’t say how this is returned to the family (if they wish); presumably there’s some evaporation stage?
Well, there is the wood chipper. Or the hog pen.
Seriously they’d both make compostables pretty darn quick.
But…yuck.