[toss1]

Yup. Before my mom was in hospice care, she arranged to donate to the regional medical school. I thought this was really cool and intend to do the same. One thing that was really surprising was how much easier it made the arrangements just after the terminal event, which turned out also be a nice gift.

But this kind of ghoulishness for petty profit is extremely discouraging. I'm happy to contribute to the next generation of learning and science. But if my parts are going to wind up traded & sold by a bunch of scumbags, I'd literally prefer to just get placed in the remote woods for animals to eat - go straight back to the natural cycle.

So, it seems that before donating, we now must ask what controls are in place. Ugh.

[dexwiz]

Pretty much any ecological method like this is illegal in the USA due to lobbying from the mortuary industry. They really want to get their dollar. You have to be embalmed before you can be cremated which seems like a huge waste.

But letting your body rot in the woods doesn’t really scale. Yeah a sky burial works for a small mountain village, but you would have to dedicate huge swathes of land and sustain a large carrion bird population to do that for a city without it turning into a biohazard.

There is a reason most cultures prefer to bury or burn their dead.

[NoZebra120vClip]

Enbalming is not necessary and not mandatory, and it's a myth that it is. Yes, funeral homes will try really hard to sell it, and it's one of those routine things that happens lickety-split before you can stop it, but NO, it is not required!

[hammyhavoc]

I've spent a long time thinking about dying when I should have been living. Whatever happens in the end, I hope that your life was lived to the best that you can, because that's the important part. Everything that comes after, well, it can suck, but the magic was in the now and what you did whilst alive.

Wishing you a very long, very healthy, very happy, very peaceful life. May we all rest in peace eventually.