Greenzone Online

As we have become more aware of the impact that our living has on this planet, we also begin to recognize the effects of our dying. I came across this brief (and nostalgia-inducing) post about eco-burials and was inspired to contemplate the greening of our attitudes toward death. The traditional options: sealing yourself in an airtight box and filling your vessels with preservatives, and cremation, which seems appealing until you think of the fossil fuels consumed.

Now contemplate a few of the more compassionate alternatives: a green burial in an eco-burial ground that doubles as a wildlife preserve, a burial at sea, or even contributing your post-cremation remains to form a (green) memorial reef. The thought of a memorial tree planted on my remains, with woodland creatures gathered in and under it is infinitely more agreeable than the image of my petrified body looking eerily like the Crypt Keeper.

There are resources out there providing information on eco-friendly burials, products that lessen the impact of our interment, and even a fledgling Green Burial Conference (“A Greener Way to the Great Beyond”). Typically, more environmentally sensitive funerals and burials are also less expensive. What’s your physical legacy going to be?

Image above comes from Earth Artist

See also here and especially here for more information