Traditional burials involve embalming bodies with formaldehyde-based solutions and burying them in concrete vaults. Each year "1.6 million tons of concrete, 827,060 tons of toxic embalming fluid, 90,000 tons of steel, and 30 million tons of hardwood board" are buried by the United States, according to Valerie Streit in the February 17, 2009 CNN online article " Green Burials, A Dying Wish to be 'Home for Fish.'"
Traditional Burials Cause Greenhouse Gas Emission
There are many green issues associated with traditional burials. They are resource-intensive in nature, from the manufacturing and shipping of coffins and vaults, to the resources used to maintain the landscaping of cemeteries. The use of herbicides at cemeteries contributes to water pollution. There is also the issue resulting from burying a body six feet deep, causing the corpse to decompose without oxygen.
According to Nina Shen Rastogi in the February 17, 2009 Slate article, "The Green Hereafter," instead of producing carbon dioxide and water, as remains would if they were buried in topsoil, a corpse becomes like sludge and leaks out methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.
Artificial Reefs Offer Environmentally Friendly Memorial
Eternal Reefs Inc. in Decatur, Georgia, offers underwater burials in artificial reefs used to create new marine habitats. The reefs, according Streit, are cast from a mixture of environmentally safe cement and cremated remains, and last about 500 years. But, there are issues associated with cremation, according to the FAQ page at greenburials.org.
Dioxin, hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid, sulphur dioxide, and carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere during cremation. The energy used during a typical cremation process, according to Rastogi, requires about 2,000 cubic feet of natural gas and four kilowatt-hours of electricity per body. If the person had dental fillings, estimates of the amount of mercury released into the atmosphere range from 300 to 6,000 pounds, representing about 2.7 percent of America's current anthropogenic mercury emissions.
Green Burials Preserve Nature and Wide Open Spaces
A green funeral or natural burial is more in tune with nature. It is a more green alternative to traditional burials and cremation. Green burials, or natural burials, attempt to keep the burial site as natural as possible, according to greenburials.org. Since nature does not create waste, as returning to the soil allows for all organisms to recycle, natural burials offer the perfect cradle to cradle solution. Natural burial sites promote vegetation growth, creating a habitat for birds and other wildlife. Pesticides and herbicides aren't needed for lawn maintenance, because grasses are allowed to grow, ungroomed.
Natural burials mean the body is buried without embalming in a natural setting in a biodegradable, non-toxic, sustainable material casket. No headstones are used. Instead plants, shrubs, or trees are planted or flat rocks used. Natural burials are also less expensive, since caskets, embalming, cement vaults, and headstones do not need to be purchased.
There are many green cemeteries in the United States. Greenburials.org offers a list as well as each green cemetery's Web site link for more information.
Susan Harper - Susan has been a freelance writer and technical writer for more than 15 years. As a freelance writer she has published pieces in a variety ...
