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Your Last Green Action
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by Paul Tick
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We all gotta go sometime,
and when I go, I don't want my body's last moments on earth to be any
more damaging than necessary. I like to think of myself as pretty green
and in my death I want to go green too. Each year, about 50 million of
us human types die. The environmental impact of this is huge; clearing
land for graveyards, digging graves, cutting trees for coffins, lining
coffins with unnatural fabrics, preserving the dead with poisonous
embalming fluids, and concrete crypts.
Thanks to the environmental movement there are now a number of
resources available to help you plan for your green goodbyes and to
help you plan a dignified and environmentally responsible goodbye for
your loved ones. There are even a few green cemeteries that have popped
up in and some funeral homes that are willing to help you plan green
funerals.
Embalming bodies, coffins made of scarce hardwood, and concrete crypts
are meant to keep our bodies from natural decomposition. You may have
thought of this and instead planned to have your body put right into
the earth under your favorite tree. You should, however, keep in mind
that most states have highly restrictive laws against this and mandate
coffins, crypts, special burial plots, etc. for our dead bodies.
Cremation therefore becomes an important option and is becoming more
and more favored. While burning causes pollution and burning bodies,
especially those with filled embalming fluid is even worse, today's
cremations are much less polluting than those of the past, leaving this
as an excellent option. Or, for those who just don't feel like going up
in smoke, why not just skip the embalming and have a simple, closed
casket and a quick burial?
Coffins are usually made from our most precious hardwood trees.
Fortunately, you can find alternatives made of cardboard for quickest
decomposition or from bamboo, jute or even those made from locally
harvested soft woods. A shroud or biodegradable urns will bring you or
your loved one into natural composition even faster.
Many people want to be able to visit a site to remember their loved
ones. Rather than headstones that are made from destructive land
practices or marble mausoleums that scar the earth for ages, you can
plant some plant trees or bushes for these purposes or you can create
living memorials such as those noted on a website of the National
Forest Service (see below). Sending flowers that are usually grown in
pesticide-laden sweatshops in developing nations is out of the question
for environmentally concerned individuals, but asking mourners to send
gifts to a favored environmental or social action organization is an
excellent alternative. If a grave is to be dug, having mourners plant
native wildflowers there will be a lasting way to help the environment.
The not-for-profit Green Burial Council and other organizations are
helping people to make all of these arrangements easier and helping
consumers understand sustainable burial and cremation practices,
locations and companies and more. In New York, Greensprings Natural
Cemetery, in our Finger Lakes area, combines burial sites with land
preservation efforts.
It may seem early to think about your own ending or the ending of those
you love, but it is always easier to think and plan ahead. You should
be sure to put in your will your desire to have a green funeral and be
as specific as you want. Also, Contact the Memorial Society of the
Hudson Mohawk Region (405 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12206,
518-465-9664). For a token membership fee, you will get lots of great
materials on how to prepare in advance and how to ensure that you are
not taken advantage of by greedy merchants when you face your most
difficult time. Even when we come to our end, we can still do our best
to protect the planet for our future generations.
Other excellent resources are:
GreenSprings Natural Cemetery: http://naturalburial.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1.
Natural Burial Council, www.greenburialcouncil.org.
The National Forest Service: www.livingmemorialsproject.net/landmark.htm.
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