Essay Example on Planning Final Arrangements: Burial vs Cremation

Introduction

Final arrangements require planning, and this can help in saving loved ones from stress and money. Funerals allow payment of respect to the deceased and give a chance to family, close friends, and members of the community for the healing process. The final disposition of a body varies in many cultures in terms of process and methods, and the two popular ways and widely in use are burial and cremation. Burial usually involves a casket where the body is placed, and they bury it underground with a cemetery plot. Cremation consists of the use of extreme heat to reduce the body to bone rubbles. Cremation requires a particular furnace or chamber for the process to take place into a fine substance ash and can take more than three hours. Before return to the family, the ashes are temporarily in place in a container and transfer to an urn. There is a growing concern for funeral consumers on the environmental impact of deaths. Traditional methods of disposition, specifically burial and cremation, are harmful to the environment.

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A wide variety of invasive, avoidable, obstructive, and expensive products and services for traditional disposition encompass in the United States such as heavily manicured gravesites, tombstones, caskets lacquered, and embalming (Kim & Kim, 2017). New after death consumers, thankfully every day, have more choices with new funeral industry branches that are rushing because of high demand. The popularity of organic fair trade cut flower vendors and natural or green burial home funerals are gaining while far from perfect cremation continues to release furans, dioxins, and vaporized mercury. There are steps to mitigate that one can take, such as the inexpensive greenhouse gas, but it has a low effect form of disposition. There are other alternative forms, such as promession, that are still in theory and alkaline hydrolysis, which has garnered support from experts throughout the world, beginning its offer to consumers. Unfortunately, people consider the use of tombstone, vault, and casket in full-service burial without considerations of the impact on the environment. A cemetery of about 10 acres under the Central for Natural Burial as a nonprofit organization has a concrete vault of 20,000 tons, a casket of steel about 1,000 tons, and adequate wood from concealed coffins to build homes that are enough for 40 families (Lang, 2017). Native plants or animal lives, as a result, have little space in most cemeteries.

For a period, cremation was the alternative of traditional burial and was thought to be eco-friendly. Investigation, however, establish that in contrast to full-service burial cremation might not be much damaging to the environment. Still, in the most crematorium, retorts in standard cremation require natural gas to burn. The cremated body may present chemicals such as mercury that are harmful to the environment and, through vaporization, release the vapors. The presence of mercury in the cremated body can be because of its use in furans, dioxins, and amalgam dental fillings. For a human body to incinerate to bone and ashes, it must maintain between 45 and 90 minutes and in heat between 1400 and 1800 degrees Fahrenheit (Niessen, 2008). There are more fuel-efficient crematorium retorts over the years with new ways of lowering the amount of carbon dioxide emissions in this practice significantly. Cremation disposition can involve various forms, such as with ground burial, whereby the ashes after placing in an urn are buried in the ground. Above-ground burial cremation consists of placing the container in selected mausoleum niches and cremation while scattering the ashes is a standard method that involves tossing the ashes at sea, ocean, or lake a technique known as water burial. In general, the traditional process of disposition funeral consists of the use of embalming fluid formaldehyde as well as demand for land in burying a coffin or casket.

Most faiths at funerals and memorial services generally appreciate and appropriate the use of flowers. Many large-scale growers of flowers cut and engage in social practices and are involved in a wide array of deplorable environmental practices. Best flowers from overseas industrial-scale hothouses are grown to be sold in the United States with treatment from pesticides and chemicals. Lack of country host enforcement to the regulations on these dangerous chemicals adequately affects many flower workers by lacking adequate protection gears and affects the hothouses surrounding environment.

Identity of the Problem

People are trying to shift from traditional methods of burial and cremation to green burial since it can try to bypass the embalming process but lack widespread of it. The usual environmental impact of death does sidestep green burial by lack of green burial sites and an increase in invasive biological products such as concrete slabs, cement vaults, and lacquered caskets. The funeral industry promotes embalming and widespread practice as they try to support sanitation and health issue. Consumers have contrary beliefs that embalming is advisable, but it is not known to have any health or environmental benefits, and the law rarely requires it. The law only requires the use of embalming for cases transport in inter-states of the remains or disease infection as the cause of death. No matter how personnel of the funeral industry present embalming, it is up to the individual decision and the community to whether to use this process for burial and cremation or not. Formaldehyde is what generally basis embalming fluids a commonly known chemical used in many construction and preservative materials such as particleboard. The chemical biodegrades readily in the air and the ground since it is a naturally occurring chemical.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States recognizes the compound as a carcinogen and extended period of exposure can source adverse health effects (Martin & Griswold, 2009). Embalmers expose themselves to formaldehyde are at risk since the liquid gets contact with their skin, and in the air, they breathe. There is yet adequate establishment on the number of embalming fluids' environmental effects when they leach into the ground. Still, every year through burial, the liquid is introduced into the united states by over 800,000 gallons (Elnatan, 2005). In the world, this is disconcertingly close to plant life and animal.

There are controversies of vaporized mercury by crematoria emissions since there is a slight amount combination of it vaporized. Mercury, as noted, is a very toxic substance and is potentially hazardous even in small quantities. Through various forms of precipitation, vaporized mercury returns to earth sometimes as acid rain because of its gaseous form. The mercury then can convert to methylmercury, a highly toxic compound when it deposits on water or land bodies (Kim & Kim, 2017). Through the mercury-contaminated waters and groundwater, humans are often exposed through food such as fish. Women of childbearing age and young children are a particular concern with exposure of methylmercury since high levels of it harms a developing nervous system. Children's ability to learn and think can be impaired, and there are chances for the development of disorders such as retardation and autism. The EPA leaves the regulation to the states since there is no enough warrant for control in particulate emission. Amalgam dental fillings use mercury, and the presence of it is in many cremated remains leading to an increase in mercury emissions.

Additionally, in the coming years, the population of baby boomers is likely to exploit amalgam dental fillings. In comparison to other mercury emissions, it is clear that industrial and commercial boilers, diesel vehicles, and dentist offices have a high amount of it than the small source of mercury in crematories, but this uncertainties damage environment. The government needs to look at processes for burial and cremation that are less harmful to the environment since green burial faces many challenges.

The Solution to the Problem

There are several steps to take to alleviate the environmental impact of burial and cremation, such as the less spread option for green burial. Few establishments are pushing for green burial and are actively working to refine and expand it. Bypassing embalming and allow only for rear cases of the body's long-distance transport or certain infectious diseases can help curb the harmful effects on the environment. Additionally, choosing a biodegradable burial shroud or casket will help in this case since there is a high environmental impact with the burial of metal caskets and lacquered wood. Many options can certainly reabsorb into the natural environment by readily breaking down the compounds such as the purchase of biodegradable cardboard, wicker, or wood caskets.

Furthermore, the more elaborate damaging conventional caskets and urn are expensive from the products that are generally simple and cheaper. A burial shred can also be purchased sometimes fitted with wood panels and handles; it is special made wrap to bury valued ones. Lack of casket that is biodegradable cannot be in acceptance of the green burial sites. Most kinds of paints are environmentally unhealthy, and it is vital to choose colors that are of milk paint.

Choosing facilities for cremation by looking at the information of the provider and if they use pollutant filters will help reduce the environmental impact of cremation. As a result, localities and state regulation will be alert and increase pressure like in the United Kingdom and Europe; some crematoriums now lower pollutants released into the air by use of filters. Even though EPA, due to economic concerns, does not mandate by law use of filters the next few years, there will be the availability of cheaper active filters for crematoria stacks installation in animals and human cremations. Additionally, medical parts recycle by cremation providers can help recover decedent's medical implants such as pacemakers after completion. The recycle items that are in the right conditions can be offered as funds. Cremators can offset carbon emission through the contribution of carbon fund since there are many organizations in the forefront to fight carbon emissions. There are other forms of disposition, such as the old-style funeral pyre of open-air cremation service and burgeoning science of cryonics that is preserving by freezing. Preserving is for the ultimate rejuvenation of a recently deceased person with the belief that someday there will be validation to their loved ones. There are other two alternative forms that, in the coming years, will gain attraction, namely promession and alkaline hydrolysis. Promession is popular in Sweden, whereby, through treatment, it reduces the body to fragments that are small and degradable (Hugoson, 2009).

Alkaline Hydrolysis is a Superior Method of Disposition

The machine of alkaline hydrolysis is amid-cycle with sound-emitting like that in several gardens away with a lawnmower. As big as a small van, it is a circle shape with steel panels that is stainless, a cylindrical tank for holding the body, a group of flashing fuses and lights, and neatly hides pipes. There are ignition buttons, and a touchscreen for operation and placing of the masses is through a circular steel door.

After death, the most common ways of disposition of the bodies are cremation and burial, and this has not fundamentally changed. During the American Civil War, there was popularization on the modern act of embalming, which is physic...