whats the cheapest legal way to dispose of my dead body so i can stick it to the funeral industry? (lemmy.world)

submitted 8 months ago by phonics@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

101 comments fedilink hide all child comments

fuck thousands for a coffin. or hundreds for an urn. can i legally be burried in butcher paper?

can i donate my body to science and skip burrial all together?

i want my final action to be a big middle finger to the funeral industry picking on people in their weakest moments.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 1 points 8 months ago

Certain types of burial allow the body to potentially contaminate nearby soil. Others can leave behind a void that can either collapse and disrupt nearby graves, or in some cases lift the body back to the surface in heavy rain. (Extremely uncommon now because essentially nowhere allows you to use those methods)

Funeral pyres or other forms of open air cremation are generally not legal due to concerns of fire spreading.
Whole body water burial is probably not legal in a body of fresh water in the US due mostly to the complexity of figuring out which law applies to that circumstance in any of the bodies of water that could be used that wouldn't be grossly undersized and unsanitary. (Basically that means the Great lakes, which are the only ones with the depth and size sufficient, but are shared between multiple states and also Canada. Usually the rule is that if it's not forbidden it's permitted, but body disposal is more complicated)

[-] PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 2 points 8 months ago

I probably should have said "safely" rather than just "sanitary", I was thinking about water burials and ground water contamination when I said that.
And also just like... Leaving the body out in a public area.

As long as you're not putting people in danger, and you're not disrespecting the deceased, what would be illegal?

[-] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Funeral pyres or other forms of open air cremation are generally not legal due to concerns of fire spreading.

That's why you set up your OWN funeral pyre! Got a terminal cancer diagnosis, looking to go out on your own terms?

Erect a large funeral pyre on a large piece of open ground. (Ideally do this at a time of low fire risk.)
Create an ignition mechanism that can be activated by a timer.
Take a lethal dose of opioids or whatever assisted-suicide drug you've been prescribed.
Set the timer to ignite the pyre a few hours after you are certain to have succumb to the effects of the drug.
Activate the timer, climb atop the pyre, and take the big nap.
A few hours later the pyre alights and your body is cremated in an open funeral pyre.

I mean, sure, it's illegal as Hell. But who are they going to prosecute? Are they going to put your ashes on trial?

this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2025

45 points (95.9% liked)

Ask Lemmy

39245 readers

310 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

6) No US Politics.

Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.