Whether or not you have given much thought to the manner of the disposal of your earthly remains and the methods by which you will be memorialized, one thing is certain: The time will come when decisions must be made.

Baby boomers are now old enough to begin contemplating their own mortality, and millions of them are expected to die within the next 30 years. This is the generation that grew up with Earth Day, which religiously recycles and composts, and which has rewritten the rules for most of life’s rituals. So it stands to reason that in death baby boomers want something more meaningful than a prepackaged funeral. Looking for something different, many will opt for a more natural and ecologically correct ending. Nate Fisher, a lead character in the HBO series Six Feet Under did so last season, opting for a green burial in a wooded nature preserve.

The U.S. funeral business is a $15 billion industry annually. A typical funeral now costs about $7,500 and can easily escalate to $15,000 or more for a burial plot, a headstone, embalming, and a plush coffin with all the trimmings. Embalming, a mostly American custom considered by critics to be toxic and artificial, forestalls putrefaction for only a week.

(TOP) LEFT: A view of the edge of Spruce Knoll, Mount Auburn’s woodland cremation garden. RIGHT: Memorial “Ledger Stones” placed around the perimeter of a circle are etched with the names of up to 24 departed souls whose cremated remains are commingled in the space; Ledger Stones are carved from Rockport boulders.

Cremation, a far less costly option, has become a serious challenge to routine burial. Cremations have risen dramatically in recent years and now represent 30 percent of all funerals nationwide, fueled in part by economics but also by environmental concerns and the rejection of traditional religious funeral rites.

Creative disposal of one’s “cremains” (as cremated remains are popularly but irreverently known) include the recent spectacular funeral of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. His ashes were blown into the sky from a cannon at his Aspen, Colo. ranch, topping off a star-studded celebration. “He loved explosions,” Thompson’s widow Anita said. ( Johnny Depp, who played Thompson in the . lm of his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, paid for the cannon and the event, which reportedly cost $2 million.)

Similarly, on Dec. 6, the cremains of James Doohan, who played Scotty on Star Trek, were launched into space according to his last wishes. The remains of more than 120 others were also aboard the flight, including those of Mareta West, the scientist who determined the site for the first spacecraft landing on the moon. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry also had his remains shot into space in 1991.

Shooting one’s ashes into space is only one option, of course. A scattering of one’s ashes in a meaningful spot has always been popular, but how are loved ones to visit you after the scattering? Enter the “green” cemetery. In England, there are about 140 woodland cemeteries, and the concept is rapidly catching on in the States.

Mount Auburn cemetery, the first garden cemetery in the U.S., was originally affiliated with the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Modeled after Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, its mission is to preserve the historical landscape. VP of Interpretive Programs Janet Heywood says that the demand for space exceeds the supply. “There is no shortage of space below ground, just above ground,” she says. “People love to be in landscape spaces, to feel as if they are part of the garden. They want beauty, tranquility, to be in a spiritual place.”

But they still want memorialization, so Mount Auburn provides a number of space-saving options: While traditional plots are still available, they may be used to accommodate a combination of caskets and cremated remains, and in an area called Spruce Knoll, cremains are poured into the ground and commingled with others. Memorial ledger stones, set in ground cover, can accommodate 24 names and are placed in groups around the Knoll. “People like the idea of reusing and sharing space,” says Heywood.

An early proponent of natural burial, Dr. Billy Campbell opened the 350-acre Ramsey Creek Preserve, a natural burial ground in Westminster, S.C., in 1998. Burials take place without embalming, in biodegradable coffins or cremation urns. Campbell says, “It’s restoring the connection between people and land.” His nonprofit Center for Ethical Burial is developing aesthetic and environmental standards for green cemeteries.

But the greatest marketing opportunity for eco-burial may be in Marin County, Calif., where cremation is the choice for an astonishing 80 percent of the departed. Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Santa Monica Boulevard may seem an unlikely beacon of the future of the hereafter, but its young owner, Tyler Cassity, turned the neglected cemetery for old silver-screen idols into a tourist mecca. Video tributes to the deceased stars are viewable at kiosks and on the internet, and Cassity’s annual Rudolph Valentino film festival at the cemetery is attended by thousands.

Cassity’s vision for a virtual green cemetery has been realized at Forever Fernwood, a forested site bordering miles of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The landscape is natural: Wild- flowers, shrubs, rocky outcroppings, and trees serve as markers. There is no embalming and no vault. Those opting for burial at Fernwood can choose biodegradable coffins made of wicker or bamboo, and shrouds in a hemp-silk blend. Soon to come: $5,000 “eco-pods,” made from recycled newspapers and nontoxic glue, imported from England, and akin to a seed pod for humans.

In a landscape with no headstones, visitors to Forever Fernwood can locate the remains of loved ones using a handheld device triggered by GPS (Global Positioning Satellite). Cassity has plans for a portable computer that will allow strollers to view digital biographies as they contemplate the natural environment.

Not everyone wants such a discreet grave. If headstones are your thing, you now have options beyond traditional granite: Consider the newly available kiln-formed glass headstones to brighten up your final resting place. Lundgren Monuments in Seattle makes custom glass monuments that “glow like a beacon in a field of cold, lifeless stone,” says the company’s owner, Greg Lundgren. Designed to last thousands of years with little or no maintenance, glass headstones “bring new life to the graveyard.”

So, while we cannot choose how or when we exit this mortal coil, it’s a comfort to know we may at least spend eternity in a style of our own choosing. Whether or not we believe in an afterlife, we all wish to be remembered, and our choice of memorialization is our last chance to express our personal taste. Either way, as Gene Rodenberry might have quipped: “Death ... is the final ending.”