The cemetery, the casket, the gorgeous floral arrangements.

墓園、棺材和華麗的花藝佈置。

Vin Diesel stylishly going two buttons undone on the dress shirt.

典型的馮迪索時尚風格，解開襯衫最上方的兩顆鈕扣。

But what if I told you that other than Dominic Toretto's effortless style, this was probably the worst way you could dispose of a body?

但如果我告訴你，除了唐老大的休閒穿搭風之外，這可能是處理屍體的最糟方式。

This traditional casket-in-the-ground method most of us are used to is what journalist Mark Harris calls a "modern burial."

我們大多數人習慣的傳統土葬就是記者 Mark Harris 所謂的「現代葬禮」。

And that is the chemical embalming of the remains,

意即對遺體進行化學防腐處理，

the burial of the body or the placement of the body into a metal casket,

埋葬屍體或將屍體放入金屬棺材中，

and then the placing of that casket and embalmed body in the bottom of the grave that we call the burial vault.

然後把棺材和經過防腐處理的屍體放置於我們稱為墓穴的墳墓底部。

So that's pretty much the American way of death.

這就是美國人的死亡儀式。

Aside from being a great name for a novel, the American way of death actually turns out to be pretty terrible.

除了可以用來當小說的好名稱之外，美國人的死亡儀式實際上相當驚人。

The average cost of modern burial runs on average from $10,000 to $12,000.

現代葬禮的平均費用介於 1~1.2 萬美元之間。

Although you can talk to families who will tell you they paid a lot more than that.

話說如此，辦過葬禮的家庭會告訴你，他們的實際開銷比上述費用多很多。

In many cases, a lot more.

很多情況下，費用高出許多。

This KISS casket alone will set you back seven grand.

光是這個 KISS 棺材就要 7 千美元。

No word on if the amps are included though.

但不確定是否包括擴音器。

The funeral industry has also been known to engage in predatory business practices, like selling vulnerable families add-ons and services that they don't need.

殯葬業也有掠奪性的商業行為，像是向弱勢家庭推銷他們不需要的附加產品和服務。

They've also been the subject of a number of class action lawsuits, including one for conspiring to fix the prices of caskets at artificially high prices.

他們也成為集體訴訟的對象，其中一例為密謀將棺材的價格定在人為提高的價格上。

"Modern" burials are also incredibly wasteful.

現代葬禮也極其浪費。

The average grave site takes up 32 square feet of land in a cemetery.

墓地平均佔地 32 平方英尺。

And that's just space.

這還只是空間而已。

It uses a staggering amount of resources as well.

葬禮也使用了大量的資源。

Every year we divert enough concrete to the production of those burial vaults to lay two-lane highway halfway across the country. And every year we divert enough metal for those metal caskets to completely rebuild the Golden Gate bridge.

每年我們用來建造墓園的混凝土足以鋪設橫穿半個美國的雙車道高速公路。每年我們用來製造金屬棺材的金屬足以重建金門大橋。

The average ten-acre cemetery contains enough coffin wood to construct more than 40 homes, and contains enough toxic formalin, which is the main compound of embalming fluids, to fill a backyard swimming pool.

平均 10 英畝的墓地所含的棺木足以建造超過 40 間房屋，而有毒化合物福馬林也足以填滿後院的游泳池。

Which almost sounds kind of fun, right?

這聽起來蠻有趣的，對吧？

Grill up some hotdogs, toss some diving rings in for the kids to fetch.

烤一些熱狗、扔一些潛水環讓孩子去撿。

Not so fast.

別太早下定論。

Formalin, which is the formaldehyde-based preservative solution embalmers use, is incredibly toxic.

防腐人員使用的福馬林是甲醛為基底的防腐劑，具有非常大的毒性。

OSHA deems it a dangerous carcinogen and strictly regulates its use, and the EPA treats it as a hazardous waste.

美國職業安全與健康管理局 (OSHA) 認為它是危險的致癌物質並嚴格控制它的使用，而美國環保局 (EPA) 視其為危險廢棄物。

Embalmers experience higher levels of brain, colon, and prostate cancer as well as leukemia.

殯葬人員有更高的機率罹患腦癌、結腸癌、前列腺癌和白血病。

To embalm a typical body requires 3 pounds of this formalin solution and sends 120 gallons of untreated "funeral waste" directly into the sewage system,

一般屍體需要 3 磅的福馬林溶液。並將 120 加侖未經處理的喪禮廢棄物直接排入汙水系統。

including blood, fecal matter, organ fluid, and carcinogenic chemicals,

包括血液、糞便、液體和致癌化學物質，

as well as whatever unknown diseases the body contains.

以及體內未知的疾病。

OK cool, so modern funerals suck.

嗯，現代葬禮爛透了。

But what are the other options?

但是有其他選擇嗎？

Well, let's start with cremation.

我們從火葬開始說。

Countries all across the world cremate bodies.

世界各地都提倡火葬。

In Great Britain, 75% of people get cremated, in Switzerland it's 85%, and in Japan that number is almost 100%.

英國的火葬比例為 75%，瑞士為 85%，而日本幾乎是 100%。。

Two years ago, for the first time in this country's history, more Americans were cremated than buried and then pretty soon we're going to hit 50% of Americans being cremated.

兩年前，美國史上第一次，火葬的人數多於土葬。很快地，美國的火葬比例會變成 50%。

For 1 thing, it's a lot cheaper.

一方面，它便宜多了。

A typical cremation costs around $1,400 compared to the $10,000 to $12,000 price tag we mentioned earlier.

相較於之前提到的 1~1.2 萬美元，典型的火葬費用約 1400 美元。

Again, a little more for that sweet KISS casket.

不過，用 KISS 棺材就會更貴一點。

Cremating a body also requires much less space, since there doesn't need to be a grave.

火化屍體需要的空間也少很多，因為根本不需要墳墓。

And it doesn't require a swimming pool full of formaldehyde either. Sorry kids.

而且也不需要一泳池的甲醛。抱歉啦！

You can also do all sorts of fun stuff with your ashes like put them in fireworks, spread them in a national park, or even turn them into a reef.

你還可以用骨灰做各種有趣的事情，例如：做成煙火、灑在國家公園裡或甚至是把它變成珊瑚。

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But is it actually any better for the environment?

但這麼做真的對環境比較好嗎？

Cremation does use some resources. So you're heating a body for two hours up to 1,800 degrees. You're using natural gas or electricity. You're releasing pollutants into the atmosphere, most significantly mercury.

火葬確實需要消耗資源。你得用 1800 度的高溫加熱屍體 2 小時。你可以使用天然氣或電。你釋放汙染物到大氣中，主要是汞。

So it sounds like cremation is better, although it's far from perfect.

所以，聽起來火葬比較好，但它與完美相去甚遠。

Is there no way to do this without hurting the environment?

難道沒有不破壞環境的做法嗎？

Swedish scientists asked that same question and developed something called promession.

瑞典科學家問了同樣的問題，並發明了所謂的「冷凍葬」。

It's a process where you freeze a corpse in liquid nitrogen;

這是使用液態氮冷凍屍體的過程，

rapidly vibrate the body so it breaks into millions of tiny particles in just a few minutes;

快速震動遺體，讓屍體在短短幾分鐘內分解成數以百萬計的微粒，

then freeze dry the particles and remove the harmful metals leftover from your dental fillings.

然後微粒經過冷凍脫水，並去除牙齒填充物中殘留的有害金屬。

You're left with a fine dust which actually looks very similar to cremated remains.

最後只剩下細緻的灰塵，看起來很像火化後的骨灰。

It solves most of the problems of modern burial and cremation but unfortunately hasn't been approved for human beings yet.

這解決了現代埋葬和火葬造成的大部分問題，但可惜它尚未批准用於人類。

Another option is alkaline hydrolysis, where a body is put into a chamber which is then filled with water and lye, pressurized, and heated up to about 320 degrees Fahrenheit.

另一種選擇是水焚葬，屍體被放入裝滿水和鹼液的太空艙內，加壓並加熱至華氏 320 度。

The body tissue is broken down in a process that's similar to natural decomposition, and dissolved to nothing but a skeleton in about 12 hours.

人體組織的分解過程類似自然分解，經過大約 12 小時完全溶解後，會只剩下骨架。

Damn, spooky.

真令人毛骨悚然！

It's more environmentally friendly since there's zero toxic emissions and it has about one-tenth of the carbon footprint as a cremation.

水焚葬因為沒有排放有毒物，所以會更環保。這種方式的碳足跡大約是火葬的十分之一。

All that said, the simplest option might be natural burial.

儘管如此，最簡單的選擇可能是自然埋葬。

A number of natural cemeteries have sprung up across the country where unembalmed bodies are buried in biodegradable containers, or sometimes nothing at all, and allowed to decompose naturally.

全國各地湧現許多天然墓地，未經防腐的屍體被埋在可被生物分解的容器中，或根本不放入容器，任其自然分解。

It's inexpensive, natural, and can actually help preserve and restore vulnerable land and wildlife.

它價格便宜且天然，而且真正有助於保護和恢復脆弱的土地和野生生態。

Not to mention, it's how humans have done it for most of recorded history.

更不用說，在有記載的大部分歷史中，人類就是這麼做的。

No matter what the method, though, it's clear that we have to reform the way that we bury the dead.

但無論用什麼方法，我們顯然必須改變埋葬死者的方式。

In less than a quarter-century, 76 million people in America alone will get to the average life expectancy of 78 years.

在不到 25 年內，單單美國的七千六百萬的人民的平均壽命就將會到達 78 歲。

If all those people were buried in traditional graves, we'd need a cemetery the size of Las Vegas to accommodate their bodies.

如果所有這些人都是用傳統方式埋葬，我們就會需要像拉斯維加斯一樣大小的地方來埋在這些屍體。

The point is, we're all gonna die.

重點是我們都不免會死。

The question is, what are we gonna do with all the bodies?

而問題是，這麼多的屍體要往何處去？