Memorial reefs: cast your loved ones' cremains into concrete marine habitats

Eternal Reefs is a company that will turn your cremains into concrete artificial coral reef and marine habitat. Families are allowed to attend the casting of the reef-component, put their handprints in it, view the finished item, and accompany the reef to the drop-site.

Mariner Memorial Reef
(large) 4' high by 6' wide
3800 - 4000 lbs.
$6,995
The largest of our reefs, the Mariner Memorial Reef stands out as a pinnacle of the reef and attracts the larger species of sea life. The Mariner can accommodate up to four sets of remains and is frequently used for spouses or partners to be together.
Prices include:
* The handling of the cremated remains once we receive them
* The incorporation of the remains into the concrete
* The casting of the Memorial Reef
* The transportation of the Memorial Reef to the project site
* The final placement and dedication
* A GPS survey to record the specific longitude and latitude of the Memorial Reef
* Bronze Plaque with inscription
* Two Memorial Certificates
Please note: When more than one set of remains is included in an individual Memorial Reef there is an additional charge of $250 for each set of remains other than the first set.

Eternal Reefs, A Cremation Memorial Option (via Super Punch)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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kansas

$6,995 and they want an extra $250 for four more pounds of ash? Oh, sorry – “set of remains”. Just toss mine from a canoe or something. Sheesh.
freshacconci

I know conventional funerals are much more expensive than this, but this does seem a bit pricey.

What is the cheapest and most environmentally-sound option available right now? I’m open to most options since, really, I won’t care too much when the time comes.
- Donald Petersen
  
  Organ donation, then left to scientific experimentation? Or does that add some unwanted dingleberries to one’s carbon footprint?
  
  Edit: maybe some gangster could feed you to his pigs.
  - freshacconci
    
    If I had some sort of advanced knowledge of exactly when my time was up I could just wander off into the wilderness and let the coyotes have at it.
- Cory Doctorow
  
  Do what I do and specify that your remains are to be used for med-school pranks. My arm will one day proudly dangle from a toll-booth, my corpse will some day grace an alumni dinner.
  - awjt
    
    A few fraternities used to have dried corpses for fun stuff: for attending house meetings, as a stand-in drinking buddy, as at least 1 audience member present for important speeches like thesis defenses, etc.
- waetherman
  
  It’s not just a way to dispose of remains in environmentally sound way, it’s a way of funding reef rebuilding, potentially through the use of death benefits or insurance money specifically set aside for burial. For instance, the VA offers up to $2000 for burial so even after cremation fees there is plenty of money left over to fund a reef or two. I personally would much prefer to think I’m improving the environment for enjoyment of future generations rather than just being dumped in the ocean or sitting on a mantle somewhere.
E T

Jae Rhim Lee: My mushroom burial suit

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/jae_rhim_lee.html
- Lobster
  
  That’s plan C. Plan B is to have my body made into a reef intact (burial at sea). Plan A is to not die.
awjt

Wouldn’t you rather be a diamond?
sockdoll

Embedding remains in concrete and sinking them underwater?

Organized crime has allegedly been offering a similar service for decades.
- Andrew Singleton
  
  Yea but I don’t think we have many reefs in the new jearsy area.
  
  I can approve of this as a productive use of the squishy bits of me when I’m done using ‘em.
Lobster

Anyone know if there’s a legit service that’ll just toss your corpse into the ocean? Or is that the sort of thing you get for free from a close friend or hated enemy?
- CCinBmore
  
  This. Or at least in the Chesapeake. My dad’s request for his final resting place would be fully intact, weighted down at the bottom of the bay. The goal here is to make an offering of flesh to the crab population as a sort of repayment for the many hundreds of crabs he and I and others in the family have consumed over the years.
  
  I’m perfectly willing to do this “freelance” but perhaps not so willing to get arrested for it in the process.
  
  Modest amounts of research have yielded few encouraging leads so far. I hope the good BB folks can suggest an approach that hasn’t occurred to me yet.
- AlexG55
  
  I read an article in the newspaper once by someone (in the UK) whose father had asked to be buried at sea. She had to jump through some legal hoops but was able to do it.
doggjones

Old news bye! A few years ago, our former Premier (of Bermuda) David Saul announced his intention to do just this. There was a hilarious story in the local paper about it, but their online archives appear to have been destroyed. This link may mention it http://www.limeyinbermuda.com/latest_news/…/caption_competi_6.html