Burial interns more than a body. In addition to the body, the U.S. buries each year:

30 million board feet of casket wood including tropical hardwoods.
90,000 tons of steel, ( more than enough to build the Golden Gate bridge )
1.6 million tons of concrete in burial volts
over 800,000 gallons of toxic embalming fluid, which includes formaldehyde.
5,400,000 pounds of copper and bronze in caskets

Something to think about in this day of rising costs and natural resource scarcity.