Are these funerals gross or 'green'? The Marketplace consumer cheat sheet

Miss something this week? Don't panic. CBC's Marketplace has rounded up the consumer and health news you need.

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Not quite burial at sea...

An Ontario funeral business has a new plan for the dearly departed: the company dissolves bodies and washes them into the town's sewer system.

It sounds a bit, well, gross, but it's part of a movement of "green" funerals for people who don't want to die and take the rest of the planet with them.

Ahoy there, pirates

If you got a letter telling you to cough up cash (or else) for TV shows and movies you downloaded but didn't pay for, don't panic. Some experts are calling the scare tactics a "shakedown" and fighting back.

It's a story with more tension than some movies you might have pirated (cough). 

Skip the ATM

MintChip is the newest digital alternative to old-school relics as bills and coins. 

The Royal Canadian Mint started the digital platform to give people a free way to send cash to one another. But some businesses take it, too — maybe even some that can satisfy these cravings we're having all of a sudden? 

Easy to order, a pain to receive

It was so easy to buy that thing that you just ordered online in your underwear. So why is it such a pain to get it delivered from the U.S.?

Between delays and a pile-on of provincial and federal taxes and duty, it turns out the government can really ruin a good online bargain.

There's a new discount airline in town

NewLeaf is promising cheap flights across Canada. The initial flights were scheduled for January and got delayed, but the company now says it's packed and ready to start flying between 12 Canadian cities in July. 

However, there are a few thinks you might want to know about the company before you pack your bags.

Recycling those cups is still a problem

We actually went dumpster diving to report on how Tim Hortons and Starbucks take the cups you put into recycling and send them to landfill.

Now, the city of Toronto is asking residents not to put those cups in their own blue bins, because the municipal government doesn't recycle them, either. 

On TV: Is your doctor too tired?

Do tired and overworked doctors on marathon shifts make more mistakes? Some resident doctors can work 30-plus hour straight without sleep.

Is it dangerous?

We made David Common stay up all night so we could test his cognitive skills in the face of serious sleep deprivation. Watch it on TV this weekend or online right now.