While I totally agree that scattering ashes without care for the environment, and/or in other people's countries/lands is totally wrong, I can't agree with your general anti-cremation stance.

Here in the UK we have limited burial room, and so need to cremate. Natural burials are slowly gaining in popularity, but need specific land permits because the chemicals released by human decomposition can also affect the environment and the soil PH. The best place to scatter ashes, though, is def. horticultural land (gardens, basically, including specific rose gardens in cemetaries) where ashes act as an excellent fertiliser.

Here in Wales, cremation is an ancient practice that was outlawed under an imposed Christian English law. It was only overturned after a court case in the late 19th Century when a local eccentric neo-druid cremated his son's body, and was promptly arrested.

We fought for the right to cremate our dead, and while we should 100% do so responsibly (and NOT take them to other people's countries - WTF is wrong with some people?!) there are deep cultural traditions and spiritual beliefs for many people related to the release of the spirit and the transformation of death. Cremation holds deep ritual and ancestral ties for a lot of people - ties which somehow survived Christianisation and the forced assimilation of burial rites, and should be respected.