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 * Full citation. **

Helen Knight. “Feature: Better Ways to Dispose of a Body.” //New Scientist// 211 (n.d.): 44–47. doi:10.1016/S0262-4079(11)61972-6.


 * Where does the author work, what else has s/he written about, and what are her/his credentials? **

Helen Knight – Clean Technology Correspondent at //New Scientist// 
 * What is the main topic or argument of the text? **

“Better Ways to Dispose of a Body” discusses the sustainability concern that traditional burials and cremation present. It also suggests points of intervention in the way of green burials, freeze-drying bodies, liquefy bodies, and turning them into reef balls.


 * Describe at least three ways that the main topic or argument is fleshed out. **

Helen Knight brings to light the faults in the current standards for processing bodies after death and ways in which they are changing. Currently most bodies are cremated to buried. By cremating a body, 35 kWhr of energy are being used and 400 kg of carbon dioxide are being released into the atmosphere. Toxic mercury emissions from teeth and fillings are also released to the atmosphere during this process. Traditional burials are no better though. The require the use of large amounts of land and resources for coffins. In addition to consuming large amounts of natural resources, burial plots require caretaking. This involves the use of pesticides and keeping the land clear of naturally occurring plants.

Knight suggests many points for intervention to the current system. Since land use is the largest concern when it comes to burials, it has been suggested that countries consider reusing burial sites and moving old bodies to mass graves. Some countries have adopted this policy, but there is still a very negative stigma around it. Other suggestions have been to bury a body in a simple cardboard coffin and place them in a shallow grave. By not marking the grave and turning the burial sites into a conservation area, land can remain in use for many years to come.

Other points of intervention focus on the environmental concern that cremations cause. New methods of cremation, such as freeze-drying and liquefying bodies have begun to take their place in the system. Since these methods are somewhat unconventional, simpler solutions have been the main focus. Crematoriums are now looking into filter the mercury out of their emissions and expect to eliminate 100% of these emissions by 2020. Additionally, cremated bodies can be turned into reef balls, which help promote coral growth in reefs.


 * What three quotes capture the critical import of the text? **

“With over half of the world's population living in cities, lack of space is a growing problem in urban cemeteries. Cremation cannot be the solution. For one thing, it already far outnumbers burials in some of the most overcrowded countries, including the UK and Japan.”

“Until we change our cultural mindset, we will always have a lack of burial space, says Rumble. Grave reuse is a sustainable way forward.”

“States in the US buy reef balls on a commercial basis for their fisheries management programs, says Frankel. So we like to say that we’re building public reefs with private money.”


 * Explain how the argument and evidence in the text supports your research focus. **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This article supports the idea that the current methods to handling bodies after death are harmful to the environment. By implementing more sustainable means to disposing of these dead bodies, we can reduced the carbon emissions and toxins released into the environment after one has passed away. To do this though, a large shift in the cultural mindset behind processing dead bodies will need to occur.


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">List at least two details or references from the text that you have used in your presentation and wiki post. **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Reusing burial plots can help with land use for cemeteries.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cremations require a lot of energy and new methods have been found to replace them, such as resomation.