So other than toying with the idea of a high school pal doing motorcycle donuts on my grave (as urban legend tells us Dan Akroyd did for John Belushi), I've never much taken to the idea of being buried.

A great philosopher, George Carlin, once said the biggest waste of real estate is golf courses and cemeteries. (I think Rodney Dangerfield said the same thing in the original "Caddyshack.")

Now I know speaking of golf courses this way in Pennsylvania is sacrilege, so don't hunt me down, blame George.

But as for cemeteries, I'm starting to agree.

As Mike Snyder recently wrote about in The Mercury, gravestones often hold important information and I agree. I'm not talking about getting rid of the ones we already have.

But I think we can find a way to store that information from this point forward without setting aside 30 acres of prime real estate to do it.

And yes, memories of the deceased are important, but I'm not sure we have to keep the actual corpse around to maintain them. A photograph would do nicely I think.

Up until last month, I had always envisioned my remains being burned to a crisp and then scattered in some spot of which I'm overly fond, the beach most likely. Cap Cod at sun down or some cliche like that.

But hey, that means a carbon footprint to run the incinerator right? Not to mention the dangerous emissions from the mercury in those silver dental filings I'll no doubt have by the time I kick.

And while burial requires no burning, there's the expense of the coffin, the embalming fluid soaking into the groundwater, the emissions from the mile-long funeral train of slow-moving cars...OK, perhaps I'm getting a swelled blogger's head here ... the emissions from the three hybrids driven by those who show up, or get caught behind the electric-powered hearse.

Anyhoo, last month the Associated Press brought me a whole new option -- liquidating my assets -- and I mean ALL my assets.

Sixteen years ago, a process called alkaline hydrolysis was developed to get rid of animal carcases. And hey, let's face it, charming idiosyncrasies aside, my dead body is essentially an animal carcass.

The process essentially uses lye, 300-degree heat and 60-pounds of pressure per square inch to pressure cook your corpse down to liquid that could be flushed down the drain.

Talk about total recycling!

This process is legal for human corpses only in Minnesota and New Hampshire, but apparently some New Hampshire legislators are having second thoughts.

I don't see why.

Maybe they're in agreement with the Roman Catholic Church, which thinks the process of being flushed down the drain is "undignified."

No argument there, but then the procedure for coming into this world ain't all that dignified either, so what's the problem?

"I'm getting near that age and thought about cremation, but this is equally as good and less of an environmental problem," said Barbara French, an 81-year-old New Hampshire legislator who supports the bill legalizing it.

"It doesn't bother me any more than being burned up. Cremation, you're burned up. I've thought about it, but I'm dead," she told the AP.

The coffee-colored liquid has the consistency of motor oil and a strong ammonia smell, but proponents say it's sterile and can, in most cases, be poured down the drain safely, according to The Associated Press.

It also leaves a bone dry residue similar to what you get with cremation, that could just as easily be stuffed in an urn and set on the mantle.

"It's not often that a truly game-changing technology comes along in the funeral service," the newsletter Funeral Service Insider said in September. But "we might have gotten a hold of one."

Too true, particularly for that part of your life called "game over."