Legacy MattersIf you are an environmentalist and are thinking about cremation consider this.
Cremation ignites global-warming, atmospheric conflagration
Since it takes two to four hours at temperatures ranging from 1,400 and 2,100 F, or 760 and 1,150 C, the estimated energy required to cremate one body is roughly equal to the amount of fuel required to drive 4,800 miles, or 7,725 kilometers.
Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide are spewed in large volume, along with carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, particulate matter, heavy metals, dioxins and furans.
There is also release of cadmium and lead from pacemakers and mercury from dental amalgams. Total mercury emissions from cremation in Canada for 2004 were between 240 and 907 pounds, or 109 and 411.6 kilograms.
Read the comments to her post for hilariously gross solutions to this burning environmental problem.
Posted by Jill Fallon at March 1, 2008 5:59 PM | Permalink