Death Economics

Have you ever wondered how many tons of steel are buried each year during funerals? I hadn't either, but GOOD Magazine's funny and sobering animated short, "The Business of Death," answers this and other fascinating yet largely unasked questions.

The average cost of funerals in various countries, the environmental impact of cremation vs. burial, and some of the more unusual "other options" are all covered in three and a half minutes of startling factoids and absurdly entertaining illustrations.

Is it better to leave a legacy of carbon monoxide via cremation or release formaldehyde into ground water from the grave? Although the short offers no answers to such thorny questions, the act of bringing them up -- and managing to squeeze a guilty laugh out of the viewer at the same time -- is a refreshingly transparent look at a typically taboo subject.