Friday, November 7, 2008

Greener Than the Jones'


This one wins. And, it gives new meaning to the phrase "out to pasture."

My husband tells me he wants a green funeral. "You mean cremated?"
"No," he says. "That is horrible for the environment. I want a 'real' green funeral."
He proceeds to tell me about this new green trend for funerals, where you are not embalmed, not even put in a box. In fact, apparently, you are put into the ground on government land, which insures that the land remains sacred and untouched.

Actually, I did a little research and found that there are coffin options. (OK, this is getting a little too morbid, even for me.) The prices from a place called Ecopod range from around $100 for a basic cardboard box (probably what I would choose - come on now) to $3,000 plus for a custom-made hand-painted job. These are 100% environmentally friendly.

There is tons of information out there on the Internet, if you dare, but a good place to start is the Green Burial Council or the Centre for Natural Burial. Better to know sooner than later, eh?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another good site for discussion of environmentally friendly burial is the Grave Matters blog by Mark Harris.

http://grave-matters.blogspot.com/

Livinia Redlips said...

In Sweden there is a movement to 'freeze dry' and then 'chipper' you after you die...and use the bits as mulch - for a GREEN green 'burial'. Kind o interesting.

The book Stiff mentions it (a good read).