If the “year without toilet paper” didn’t gross out willing environmentalists, perhaps the idea of composting the dead (link to Ethical Man blog) will. I don’t care if it takes a lot of energy — about a month’s worth for a living Westerner — to cremate a body, I will not be composted or even freeze-dried, powdered and mulched. One of the hallmarks of emerging humanity was the care given by the living for the dead.
But I’m willing to compromise. Options include green burials — indeed, like farming, all burials were once green — and burial at sea. Corpse donation for medical use ends with cremation, but your remains add value to learning so some will prefer this option, too.
Is a simple pine box too unsustainable?
Works for me — that could be pretty green. Better proper pine — or any local wood — than plywood. I think the real problem is when you add “perpetual care” or when a cemetery uproots a working farm.