Because they bury them? But actually there are many other options than expensive elaborate caskets which I agree are a waste of money. Jewish people traditionally are buried in a simple shroud and a plain pine casket. Other people choose cremation. Also, now more and more some people are choosing “green” burials where they are put in the ground in simple eroding materials so that their remains go back into the earth and replenish it.

There are many options and people choose what is comfortable for them.

I know they bury them, @janbb. That’s why I asked “Why don’t they…” and not “Why can’t they….” They should be able to devise something so they don’t have to bury them, so the family can keep them in the family for future funerals for those who don’t want to be cremated, but who also don’t want to saddle their loved ones with crazy, unnecessary expense. The displays are so visually appealing and soothing, and they do have a place.

Geez, @Dutchess_III how is the funeral home supposed to make money with your liberal, green, reuse recycle ideas? Those things are sold to the grieving family with the assurance that the deceased won’t be worm food and won’t leak once they deliquesce.

Oh my god, leave the dead rest in peace.

I do not know why you humans even bother with that charade.
Why not just recycle the body and grind them into burgers?

Actually @Dutchess_III you asked “why can’t they” in your OP. And as I went on to say, there are several alternatives. If you only want to rant and not get answers, why ask questions?

The people who want to spend a lot of money so that Mummy has a nice resting place do and others find other alternatives.

@ragingloli I’m no expert, but eating meat from an animal that died of illness may not be healthy, and most people die of illness.

Good grief, @Dutchess_III, maybe they don’t see the need? Why doesn’t everybody simply repurpose palettes into furniture? Why doesn’t everybody simply wear ponchos made from repurposed sheets? Why do we live in nicely built houses when we could repurpose miscellaneous stuff into viable huts?
It matters to some that their loved ones be perceived as comfortable for eternity.

”so the family can keep them in the family for future funerals for those who don’t want to be cremated.”

What if the family has no place to keep the casket, waiting for the next dead relative to come along? What if the family can barely pay their rent, let alone pay storage on a casket? What if it creeps people out, the thought that Aunt Tilly was once in this box, even if it had a liner, and now the box is in our basement?

Also, contrary to what you wrote to @janbb, @Dutchess_III, you did say “Why can’t they?”

We don’t have to bite @Dutchess_III ‘s head off…

The costs for death related things is ridiculous.

The OP does not ask for ethics to be considered really.

I think everyone has been quite polite to @Dutchess_III on this thread.

Also, @Dutchess_III has a history of asking questions seemingly not to get responses but to rant or to argue her own opinions.

I believe that many state laws and health codes forbid reusing caskets. However, in the places where it’s legal, some families will rent a casket for a wake and then cremate in a less expensive container.

http://www.cremation.com/using-a-rental-casket-for-a-cremation-service/

@LeavesNoTrace Another good option that makes sense.

And there ya go, @LeavesNoTrace has addressed that they can under certain circumstances.

@janbb owe me a coke!

@canidmajor And I know just when I’ll buy it for you.

New York state allows casket rental: “Casket rentals are not prohibited and some funeral homes offer this option. If a funeral home offers rental caskets, it must be stated on the General Price List. If you rent a casket for a viewing, you can then buy a suitable container for burial, if you choose burial.”

@zenvelo The sealed vault they lower the casket into performs that service. Also, my suggestion was a much less expensive insert into the casket which can be pulled out and sealed.

@jca cool!

@jca So this family who can barely pay their rent and wouldn’t have the money to store a casket has to come up with $2,000 for a casket that they’re just going to bury? And have to spend that same money over and over and over again? Pretty sure they could find some place to store one. A relative’s basement, or a shed or garage. it.That’s my point. If all states allowed you to rent a casket it would save those same people, who couldn’t afford a traditional funeral but wanted one, a lot of money.

Why would it even be illegal in any states?

I’m being cremated, BTW. What my kids want to do after that will be up to them, whatever they can afford. They better all get together and talk about me though!

@Dutchess_III Grieving people will often spend more than they can afford to “properly” memorialize a loved one for any number of reasons—guilt, external pressure, a crooked funeral director etc.

I hope you’ve made your wishes clear in your advanced directives and will. I’m not yet 30 and already have one.

What about a casketapult?

@Dutchess_III: We’ve probably all seen people who don’t have a pot to piss in but yet send the deceased out in high style with fancy this and fancy that. I can’t debate your questions about why they can’t store a casket in their basement, but I know some might not have a basement or have a wet basement or the list goes on and on. I am not taking sides, just offering up some thoughts.

I have @LeavesNoTrace. I just feel sorry for those who really want an opulent funeral but can’t afford one.
Oh, I understand that it’s possible for some individuals to not have someplace to store a casket, @jca, but it’s also not that difficult, either. I mean, a garage, a shed, someone elses basement, someone who maybe has some extra space in their storage shed. Something that doesn’t cost money.
It’s too bad the cost of renting a casket isn’t included in the cost of the funeral.

Why would it be illegal in some states?

@Dutchess_III: It takes a bit of space and it also has to be a dry environment.

I don’t know why it’s illegal in some states. You’d have to google it.

I KNOW!! Collapsible Caskets! When you’re done you just fold it up like collapsing a box and slide it under the bed or put it in a closet!

I think that with more people opting to forgo viewings in favor of simple cremation and “green burials” these traditions will gradually become more obsolete in the West.

I heard that at one time you were forced to buy a casket even if you were cremated. Anyone know if that was true? Yes, I can Google, but I’m talking to y’all instead.

If you buy the casket, you can have it burned. If you don’t buy it, obviously they’re not going to burn it.

Reusable? As in other people can use the same casket? Goodness, no. Nobody wants their deceased ones to use a hand-me-down casket, in some culture it’s disrespectful to share a casket with another person, furthermore, it’ll show that the family is too stingy to afford for a new casket. Either way, most people wouldn’t complain as it’s the last good thing they could do for their loved ones, even if the casket is pricy it’s a one-time expense.

I mean. The Earth is “reusable.” Even the heartiest coffin will eventually decay. Eventually the Sun will become a “red giant,” and destroy this planet….

@Unofficial_Member It’s true that in some cultures it’s disrespectful. However, as aforementioned, in some states here in the US, it’s legal to rent and reuse caskets just for viewings/wakes.

What @jca? Why would I pay them $2,000 for it, and then want them to burn the casket? Maybe we’re getting our wires crossed. Why should you be forced to buy a casket when you are going to have the body burned and you won’t NEED a casket?

@Unofficial_Member The surviving members of this family have buried their father, their mother and their brother in the last six months. It’s not a one time cost. And it’s not just the casket. The average cost for the entire funeral is over $7,000. That’s $21,000 dollars, minimum, for that family in a SIX MONTHS, and there are 4 family members left, not including the grandkids and grat grands. I realize it’s their choice, but I would hardly call it “stingy” to not want to pay that much for a one hour viewing, ESPECIALLY IF YOU CAN NOT AFFORD IT. I sure as hell couldn’t afford it.

I wouldn’t care if they put me in a used casket. Why would I? Why would my family? The option should still be available and, as mentioned, in some states it is. But, as mentioned, I shan’t be needing one.

@MrGrimm888 Yeah but not before we run out of ground space to put these billions and billions and BILLIONS and TRILLIONS AND GAZILLIONS of people who die between now and then.

^More cremation required, I guess…

Yeah. $1,500 vs $7,000 or $10,000.

Hell, I want to be cremated and toted off in an oatmeal box or cottage cheese container or maybe a pickle jar. lol
Personally I think people should just be buried naked in the earth or better yet, tossed out to provide a feast for the vultures and other scavengers, but, ya know, this is about as popular as re-using used caskets. ( I like the insert idea though. haha )

I know that here on the East Coast, they offer a relatively new service. They cremate the body, then mix the ashes with concrete. Then it’s formed into a fake reef, and placed in the ocean. There it helps fish find places to live,and hide. It eventually will grow enough stuff on it,so it’s like a natural reef. It’s something that I’ve tabled before. I love nature,and love watching fish in aquariums.

That’s how they used to bury poor people. The pine box had a hinged end and they would just tip the body into the mass grave. It would be wrapped up in cheap cloth and then they’d throw lime on top to keep the smell down.

The funeral business is such a scam. It’s so Egyptian to think we need elaborate boxes with hermetic seals to be buried in.

^Yeah. The funeral business seems to want to milk people for as much money as possible. I was talking to someone the other day about the similarities between weddings, and funerals. Well. The financial similarities. Both processes, at least in the west, on average have ridiculous costs.

At this point. I’m too poor to die. That’s a weird situation. I can’t even afford to die…

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. They may as well throw me into a deep ditch or into the sea. All the rest I consider a TOTAL waste of good money that could be used by the living who still have some years left in this shithole called life. The ones who remain certainly have more need for the cash than the departed.

Seems to me this whole thread can go under the First World Problem of the Day

I prearranged. Only makes sense.

@ibstubro prearranged, do you know the date of your death? lol

He prearranged the procedure. lol

Costco sells some nice ones from 900 to 2000.
Walmart, 888 to about 4000.
Cremation Urns for adults from 25 to 300 dollars.
Here’s some more ideas. This is the first time I heard of a shrouded burial.
http://www.moneytalksnews.com/15-ways-to-have-a-memorable-funeral-on-the-cheap/

That’s great @Pandora! If you donate your body to science they cremate for free and return the ashes 3 to 5 weeks later! It’s all free! That’s the way to go!

I need an after death payment plan. I’ll give them $20/month, for a thousand years.

Or you can just donate yourself to a body farm where they toss you out in the weeds and study decomposition rates dependent on weather, climate, etc.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkNdCSW1n_g

There are several around the U.S, Texas, Knoxville etc.

I don’t think my kids would want that @Coloma. And also, that sounds ridiculous. There is nothing special about a human body decaying versus another type of animal.

@Dutchess_III It’s forensic science, applying to crime scenes etc. Valuable knowledge when trying to determine time of death etc.

If they haven’t figured it out by now I don’t know that throwing more bodies out in the field is going to help.

@Dutchess_III Well…tell them that, obviously they see an ongoing need to study different forms of decomposition.

@Coloma and @Dutchess_III They are building another body farm in Florida. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2017/02/28/new-body-farm-opens-in-florida-becomes-7th-in-u-s/#3599685d2864

Also, they can’t reuse coffins because sometimes, the bodies leak. Don’t mean to gross you out, but my dad worked in body recovery after WW2 and my best friend’s dad ran a funeral home in the small town I grew up in.

I know they leak. That’s why I suggested an insert in the casket, that can be pulled out, closed up, then put in the vault.

I think I would hate the body farm idea. That’s on the level of an autopsy for me. Uugh…

They are very useful to forensic science.

I think that coffins, and funeral stuff, should just be more practical in price. Then we wouldn’t be even having this discussion.

@cazzie Super cool, I am captivated.
@MrGrimm888 But don;t you want to know how many millimeters a week old maggot is after feeding on your corpse? haha

I saw this idea the other week and thought it was a much better idea than a cemetery. http://www.earthporm.com/bye-bye-coffins-these-organic-burial-pods-turn-your-loved-ones-into-trees/

It’s not just the price of caskets and stuff @MrGrimm888. The wasted space bothers me. It shouldn’t cost anymore for a human to die than for any other animal.

@Coloma . Yuck…

@Dutchess_III . You have a valid point, in regards to the space it takes. Eventually, the whole world will be a graveyard, if we buried all the dead. There are 7 billion people here now. In less than 100 years, there will be 7 billion dead bodies. And probably 9 billion more people alive, who will also die…

But part of the burial idea, is a respect thing. It disappears in time though.

When people find a 2,000 year old corpse that was buried, they don’t really respect it. They study it…

@cazzie I love that idea!
I am now watching the entire Nat. Geo “Secrets Of The Body Farm” doc. haha

@cazzie BTW..I find your avatar exceedingly disturbing, far more than body farm corpses. lol

@Dutchess_III I just re-read your question details. How would the family have felt if they just put both bodies in one casket? Would have saved half the cost.

@MrGrimm888 The US seems to be the only place where graves are sacrosanct with no expiration date.

It is common in many countries to reuse the graveyards by digging up people who have been dead more than 100 years. They can be pretty certain that no one is around that knew or cared about the deceased, and the bones can be stacked in an ossuary.

^God damn I hate death….......

@MrGrimm888 haha, don’t hate/fear death, remember, you were already dead for eons before you were born. You don’t have any memories of all those gazillions of years you did not exist. We all will have not existed far longer than we do exist. 100 years or less is such an infinitesimal drop in the cosmic bucket of time.

^Thanks. But that doesn’t help….

^ Okay…well..points for trying. lol

self edited, right answer to wrong question.

@zenvelo I’m sure the idea of both bodies in one casket would have been abhorrent to them. Plus they have two different grave sites and head stones.

They used to double up bodies back in the Victorian era, lots of siblings and husbands and wives that died of some illness within hours or days of each other.
I love old Memento Mori photos.