Despite the rise in popularity of cremation, burial in a traditional coffin is still very popular in the United States. What does it take to bury all those people? You might be surprised. Here are some stats for materials used in cemeteries, by morticians, and in coffins for nearly 2 million burials in this country in the past year:
- 30 million board feet of wood
- 90,000 tons of steel (used in the coffins) – enough to build another Golden Gate Bridge
- 1.6 million tons of concrete (for burial vaults)
- 800,000 gallons of embalming fluid – more than enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool (Source: National Geographic)
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