The most popular options are ground burial, mausoleum crypts, cremation, and donation to science. As our topic for today, let's take a look at each of these options. Burial Ground burial is by far the most common option for most of us. We've grown up with it, we have ancestors buried in family, community, or church cemeteries, and in times of deep emotion we're most comfortable with the familiar. It can also be the most costly since you will be dealing, in most instances, with more than one business to make it happen.
Some precautions are in order.
For starters, the most common misconception spoken during our initial 3,000 interviews researching the book was that a burial vault is required by law. Some were creative in detail, citing EPA ordinances limiting 'toxic run-off or infiltration into the local aquifer' as the reason you are required to have a burial vault. This is, however, not the case. The vault does not provide any lasting protection from the elements, and it is illegal to make such claims. What the vault does is prevent the weight of the earth from crushing that fancy casket you just paid thousands for, keeps the grave from sinking after the casket collapses anyway so the cemetery will have a nice level surface to mow, and provide whoever sells the things with an additional profit center.