Guest Author - Colleen O´Malley Weber

Picture this. You are lying under a beautiful oak. A gentle flowing creek winds around beside you. The only sound you hear is the clear cool water splashing against the cobblestone lined creek-bed. In the distance you see your loved ones approaching. They are in awe of the beautiful natural scenery around them. Your grandson jumps up on some nearby rock formations and decides he’s king of the world for now! As they approach where you are, they kneel down under the shade of the oak and place some wildflowers at the trunk of the tree.

This is a possibility for anyone who chooses to have a green burial and funeral. Well, I took some liberties in describing what the person who has been buried in this natural setting experienced, however, how reassuring and beautiful to know that when I die I have the opportunity to have a green funeral and burial!

More and more people are finding yet another creative and sustainable way to protect the environment. Mike Jarvis, director of the Natural Death Centre, projects that more than 10% of funerals will be ‘green’ by the year 2010.

What is meant by a green burial?

It really depends on your preferences, however here are some options you have:

1) Choose not to use embalming fluids in order to ‘preserve’ your body. The problem with embalming fluid is it’s a mixture of formaldehyde, methanol, ethanol and other solvents. Joe Sehee of the Green Burial Council in Los Angeles estimates that a million gallons of embalming fluid seep into North American soil annually. There are other eco-friendly ways to achieve this preservation such as using liquid nitrogen.

2) If you choose to be buried, you have a variety of options for biodegradable or eco-friendly coffins and shrouds. They even make coffins out of paper maché, bamboo, wicker and willow!

3) Identify a green burial site. These are often more like natural woodlands or forests than tombstone filled and manicured plots. Instead of a man-made grave marker, sites are identifiable only by a tree that your family plants in your honor, or a rock outcropping or some other natural resource.

4) Those who prefer to be cremated can ask to be placed in a cardboard coffin. Not only does this save trees and minimize the pollutants released into the atmosphere, but many providers offer cost savings, as less energy is used to make and burn the cardboard coffins.

Other tips offered by the Natural Burial Association:
· Donate your organs to continue life.
· If you're being buried, request that your casket not be placed into a concrete vault.
· For cremation, ask that your teeth be removed to avoid the release of mercury from fillings.
· In lieu of flowers, ask that donations be made to a land conservation organization.

Having a green funeral/burial sounds appealing in so many ways. If you want to learn more about your options, there are a numerous sources, web sites (see related links below), and now books on the subject (such as the Natural Death Handbook --see Amazon link below).