40 replies to this topic

[Sarah C.]

There are environmentally friendly coffins out there. One such friendly coffin is made entirely out of cardboard. I, for one, don't need a fancy, expensive casket to take me to my final resting place on this earth. Cardboard that will biodegrade along with my body is just fine with me!

[Sandra Piddock]

Yes, it would be okay with me as well. I often think it seems pointless spending a lot of money on a coffin that will either be buried or burned. And I know for a fact that the fancy handles are removed and resold, because I know a couple of undertakers. Using a cardboard coffin would cut the cost of the funeral, stop the undertakers making extra profits on the back of other peoples' grief and help the environment. What's not to like?

[zararina]

If it could  be used for several days of wake, it would be a good and cheaper alternative. Specially for those who can not afford the expensive coffins. In here, some are using just simple wood sheets to make coffins.

[Sarah C.]

I just do not see the need for the expensive, elaborate coffins. The funeral home business makes you feel like you are not being kind to your loved one that has passed, if you do not spend money on a fancy coffin. It is big money to them.

[meowcow]

This is actually a great idea. I agree with you 100% I think gone are the days when we put such a high value on keeping up with appearances. I see why we should pay attention to our appearance in everyday life, but never really got the whole tradition of keeping the habit up even in death. I will definitely find out how to request for this for my last party lol. Thanks for sharing, great post!

[Safety]

I personally like the idea. I never knew anything about such type of coffin until reading this thread, but I believe it would be a great alternative to the traditional coffins and would help lower our footprint on the earth, which is really what we need to be focusing on here in 2012.

[mariaandrea]

I love this topic - which is funny considering it's about death.

I want to be cremated (and there was a great topic about that around here some months ago http://www.altenergy...ch__1#entry1470 )

If I had to be buried or if for some reason I have to be in a casket to be cremated, yes, please, put me in cardboard. I think it's ridiculous to spend extra money on me when I'm dead. I'm not going to care. I hope my kids keep it and do something better with it.

[Hysssss-teria]

Funeral … This is another issue (racket) that shoots my blood over the boiling point.

An industry that virtually “can’t miss” … sooner or later, we’ll all be paying through the you-know-what for such services. So they just hang in there … and … wait …..

Kind of like buzzards, right?

I know that funeral homes, directors, etc., are necessary evils … or ARE they?

Shoot, you can RENT a casket, if appearances mean anything to you or your family. Or you can even buy a cheapie from Walmart !!! I really do like the cardboard option best, though.

But you can even take this further for the sake of keeping some of those hard-earned bucks in your family’s pocket and out of the funeral industry. How much you do yourself is entirely up to you. There are local laws about interment, but I don’t think using the services of a funeral facility is required -- nor is embalming required. I’ve actually begun taking a casual look into the entire Without-You-At-All-Mr.-Funeral-Director thing.

I’m a huge Reader’s Digest fan, and have been since my teens. Even if I don’t get to read the whole issue, I ALWAYS check out the “13 Things” monthly feature. The article is always posted online, as well as appearing in print.

This is one that they published last summer.
http://www.rd.com/13-things/13-things-the-funeral-director-wont-tell-you/

Then go here for 9 more:
http://www.rd.com/13-things/9-more-funeral-director-secrets/

[Hysssss-teria]

Funeral Consumers Alliance
http://www.funerals.org/

Trying to plan a funeral or cremation, but don't know where to start?
We are the only 501©(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting a consumer's right to choose a meaningful, dignified, affordable funeral. We offer education and advocacy to consumers nationwide and are not affiliated with the funeral industry. This website is full of information and advice to help you plan ahead.

Here are the 14 most common MYTHS surrounding funerals.
http://www.funerals....n-funeral-myths

Funeral FAQs
http://www.funerals.org/faq

[Sandra Piddock]

Great information, thank you. I'm very sceptical about funeral directors, after the story we heard from a friend. He'd been a funeral director since he left school, with the same firm. Just before he retired, the firm was bought out by an American outfit who sent all the employees on a sales course, so they could sell as much as possible to the bereaved families. Our friend said he felt more like a salesman than a professional funeral director of almost 50 years experience.

[rbaker_59]

You're right, they are buzzards.  I would rather be buried in cardboard and my kids get the rest than to give it to them. Their prices are way to expensive and a lot of it really is not needed.  When I'm dead, I'm not going to care about being in a big fancy box.  Let my casket decompose with my body and save the earth for the living.

[UmiNoor]

I'm a Muslim and in Islam, we're not buried with the coffin. Our bodies are wrapped in a white fabric safe our faces and we're buried with a slab of wood over our body to prevent the soil from covering our face. The coffin that carries our bodies to the grave site will then be re-used.

[Sarah C.]

Hysssss-teria, on 25 March 2012 - 11:07 AM, said:

Funeral Consumers Alliance
http://www.funerals.org/

Trying to plan a funeral or cremation, but don't know where to start?
We are the only 501©(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting a consumer's right to choose a meaningful, dignified, affordable funeral. We offer education and advocacy to consumers nationwide and are not affiliated with the funeral industry. This website is full of information and advice to help you plan ahead.

Here are the 14 most common MYTHS surrounding funerals.
http://www.funerals....n-funeral-myths

Funeral FAQs
http://www.funerals.org/faq

Very good to know that something like this exists! Thanks for posting about it and providing the links to it. I don't mind if they bury me wrapped in a sheet, I may even go for creamation. To me, I am no longer with my body after i die, no need in preserving it to any degree.

[Hysssss-teria]

UmiNoor, on 25 March 2012 - 06:42 PM, said:

I'm a Muslim and in Islam, we're not buried with the coffin. Our bodies are wrapped in a white fabric safe our faces and we're buried with a slab of wood over our body to prevent the soil from covering our face. The coffin that carries our bodies to the grave site will then be re-used.

I think that the entire world could take a very valuable lesson from this custom, UmiNoor.

Simple and reverent, no leaches to suck the family’s resources, and environmentally sound.

Well said, Friend!!!

[mariaandrea]

Wow. All of this information is fantastic. I've always wanted the bare minimum, but there are several things I thought were regulated by law that it turns out aren't. What a racket.

[hunysukle]

Coffins are overrated. We will be dead anyways, so who cares what the coffin is made out of? If our bodies are going to disintegrate, why shouldn't our coffins? After all, they are buried in the ground and nobody ever sees them after the funeral service.

[rbaker_59]

UmiNoor, on 25 March 2012 - 06:42 PM, said:

I'm a Muslim and in Islam, we're not buried with the coffin. Our bodies are wrapped in a white fabric safe our faces and we're buried with a slab of wood over our body to prevent the soil from covering our face. The coffin that carries our bodies to the grave site will then be re-used.

This is a more environmentally friendlier way to go.  I think all countries need to do this to reduce waste we put back into the ground.  Once we are buried, our bodies turn to dust anyway.

[MakingCents]

There are good funeral directors and companies in the world.  They aren't all vultures but yes some of them seem like sleezy sales-man more so than people who are there to help you say goodbye.  

That being said, maybe the best option is to rent a nice fancy one for display and then transfer to a more bio-degradeable one for burial.

[katdolores]

When I die, I won't make my family spend too much, too. I don't want them to be in debt because of me. I think the Islam funerals are much simpler and more environmental-friendly. I am now giving some thoughts about how my funeral would go about and how to make my family save some money, and most importantly, how my funeral would be helpful to the environment.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

http://www.thenation...me-a-donor.html