With cremation, one does not have to be embalmed, but that little black plastic box supplied for the ashes usually gets lost over time, by the family...With burial, you are supposed to be embalmed and your casket/coffin is suppose to be placed in a concrete vault, nowadays, then buried in the ground or in a mausoleum...Embalming fluids are highly toxic...Ashes are inert after cremation, but all the toxins etc. in you body goes out the chimney of the crematorium, and everyone gets to breathe you in..