Before I die can I ask not to be embalmed or cremated?

You need to check with your province/region as to what the laws are related to disposal of cadavers.

Here’s a lighthearted option:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwRn7A-TWrQ

@canidmajor is correct. There are usually laws about these things.

I don’t know about Canadian laws, but here you must be embalmed unless you are being cremated & there must be an autopsy except for certain religious beliefs. Whoever will be finalizing your wishes is who you should be speaking with so they can get as close to your request as possible. Personally, I’m requesting cremation but I know that freaks out a lot of people. The embalming is important because the body decomposes so fast. You might want to add having a closed casket to your request due to the decomposition. As others have already suggested, do your research on your local laws so you know before you go. I’m guessing that your Mom will be the one taking care of your funeral. She’s going to be stressed to the max with grief & having to deal with making sure your final wishes are carried out will just add to her stress so it becomes even more important to know your rights!!!

Good idea to research the laws. Your mom might not be alive when you die, so someone else might be handling the arrangements.

I saw a documentary about a place, I think it was in TN, where you could be buried without a coffin, without being embalmed, and your remains would decompose and return to their natural state. That looked appealing however, your body would have to be transported there and it is probably prohibitively expensive to transport a body across state (or country, in your case) lines.

I would think so. In my religion we aren’t supposed to be embalmed or cremated, so my guess is the provinces allow the option for people. Will the province be making the decisions or a family member? You need to get your wishes heard. Can you plan your own burial so it’s all taken care of ahead of time?

Here is the Tennessee “Body Yard” , where the have the Forensic Anthropology Center. https://fac.utk.edu/

Here’s the natural burial ground in Tennessee, that was featured in a documentary.

https://larkspurconservation.org/

Here you can put it in your ‘final arrangement’ ooklet with your DNR and details of your wishes. But the person handling those arrangements has final say as costs tend to be thousands higher for burial rather than cremation.
Here that is a $4–6k difference. So make sure life insurance or your personal accounts have enough to do what you want. And make sure the person who will handle it has access to those funds immediately upon death as in access to your bank accounts via TOD (transfer on death.)

You can let your wishes be known, and whoever is handling your affairs should carry it out.

However, since you don’t have kids or a spouse. the authorities won’t know what your wishes are. It’s not like you can file your wishes somewhere for the police to find.

If no cremation or embalming, you have to be buried pretty quickly because you start to spoil,

If not embalmed or cremated, what are your wishes?

Viking funeral?
Shot into space?
Burial at sea?
Canned in a light olive oil?

6 foot under?
Call a funeral home with your questions.
Actual burial is thousands and thousands of dollars. I paid for my cremation last year and that price is locked in. It was $2400.

@Forever_Free I would like every chance to wake up. I would like to be resuscitated, even if in pain. I believe that I am in a time loop, and it would suck if I came back as a pile of dust or embalmed.

Also thanks for the alternate ways to handle my death. Please list more.

You can ask…

@RedDeerGuy1 If you are still talking to a psychology student, this would be a great topic to discuss with them.

@Hawaii_Jake I am reconnected to my psychologist. She will call me on Tuesdays at 4–5pm. I saw her in person yesterday for my panic attack.

@RedDeerGuy1 I’m very sorry to hear you had a panic attack. Those are so awful.

Just a thought: what did you want to have done after you die? Personally, I don’t care. Leave me for forensic studies, harvest the organs, cremate my body, embalm and bury it, don’t embalm and bury it, weight it down and dump it out to sea or blow it up. I’m no longer going to be using it so it makes no difference.

@seawulf575 I want to be on life support for as long as possible. I want to be given every chance to recover. I will relive my past. I just need time to go back. I’ve relived 26,500 plus years, and I have no reason that it wouldn’t happen again.

^^ Don’t forget, someone will have to pay for that: $2,000 – 4,000 per day and it can climb to $10,000/day. Good insurance may pay for some or all. That’s for the states; I imagine Canada is similar.

You may find the book Stiff interesting.

I have donated my body to organ/research. They will do whatever needs done.

Why do you think you’ve lived 26,000 plus years RDG?

@RedDeerGuy1 That’s where you and I differ. I view death as just the next step of life. Whatever version of the afterlife you believe in, life all ends the same with death. If you believe in reincarnation, you have to die to be reincarnated. If you believe in the Christian God, you have to die to end up in the afterlife. If you are a complete atheist, you will die and that is it. All lives lead to death. My goal is to enjoy this life as much as I can while I’m here and then take that next step.

I’ve long been terrified of an autopsy. The process, including embalming, would be absolutely cruel for no reason.

Throw my Raiders jacket on my body, and just put me in a box, and burry me. Please.

I don’t have any jewelry, just tattoos. But it would be nice if I were allowed to be buried with a loaded pistol.
Maybe a small bag of almonds, and a bottle of water.
A knife on my side…

Nothing abnormal, about thinking about it.

@RedDeerGuy1 There is cryogenic freezing. You will be in good company with Walt Disney and Ted Williams head.

^^^^ Didn’t MJ do that too?

You know we have successfully frozen and revived dogs so in theory it may be worth it

^^ Depends on your definition of “worth it”.

Cryopreservation for an entire body at Alcor costs at least $200,000, and it costs $80,000 to preserve just a brain, per Reuters. That doesn’t include transportation or funeral service costs.

While many pets have been cryopreserved, I couldn’t find anything saying any were successfully revived. And when they do perform it, the owners take the pet to the vet who removes the brain to freeze, and hopefully revive it in another animal’s body. There are, however, several instances of people who have frozen to death and been brought back to life – not the same as cryogenics though.

You certainly won’t be able to ask after you die, so you might as well try before.

Very logical, @janbb! It reminds me of when I was little, and my grandparents bought a watermelon. My grandfather put it on the floor. I asked him “why did you put the watermelon on the floor?” He replied, “so it won’t fall on the floor.” Hahahaha