Cremation and the British

Recently I was introduced to the 100 Things We Didn't Know Last Year list which I found on the BBC's web site. Thank you Brandy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2010/01/100_things_we_didnt_know_last_4.shtml

There are plenty of interesting "things" on the list. Not only does it include enthralling recycling ideas like #38 "Paper can be made from wombat excrement" and the notification found in #77 that those of us with large thighs are less likely to get heart disease (thank you very much), but the Brits decided out of all the discoveries over the last year, cremation merited two entries.

#29 Parts of cremated bodies are recycled (Bling!)
#96 Tattoos can be done with a person's ashes

It got me thinking.

So, I did a little research and learned that in the United Kingdom over 72% of people were cremated in 2007! That is compared to like 35% in the United States.

Holy smokes.

I do admit that as a teenager I wanted to be cremated if I passed away and my ashes spread over a beautiful mountain or river or buried in a foreign country somewhere. I could never really decide where my ashes would go but I knew that it was romantic.

I also read that cremation is growing in popularity around the world. Maybe we are all hopeless romantics? Or maybe there is not enough space for more cemeteries?

I wonder how many of us are walking around with ash tattoos?