green burial

**gottadance** · 09-27-2010, 12:45 AM

Hi there - wondering if anyone else has plans for a green burial. I've been thinking about it for a while - nongreen burials are a) more expensive and b) toxic to the environment. I just read a great article in Audubon Magazine about the increase in their popularity - Audubon Magazine. The article has a bunch of great links. I'm fairly young, but I do have my will, power of attorney, etc., in place, so I thought why not let my family know my wishes for burial - so they don't have to make that decision when the time comes.

**krbshappy71** · 09-27-2010, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by gottadance

Hi there - wondering if anyone else has plans for a green burial. I've been thinking about it for a while - nongreen burials are a) more expensive and b) toxic to the environment. I just read a great article in Audubon Magazine about the increase in their popularity - Audubon Magazine. The article has a bunch of great links. I'm fairly young, but I do have my will, power of attorney, etc., in place, so I thought why not let my family know my wishes for burial - so they don't have to make that decision when the time comes.

Is being cremated GREEN? My family already knows that's what I want. (they don't like it but they know it)

**nuisance26** · 09-27-2010, 05:05 PM

~Oh yeah. No chemicals for me. There's a natural wooded graveyard around here. No chemicals or headstones allowed. Caskets are untreated wood or natural basket. It's a very peaceful place. Regular cemeteries are creepy with their carved monuments, orderly rows and ground keeping crews.
I'm not so much into it being "green" as it is true to my religious beliefs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bereavement_in_Judaism~

**gottadance** · 09-27-2010, 06:13 PM

Originally Posted by krbshappy71

Is being cremated GREEN? My family already knows that's what I want. (they don't like it but they know it)

Being cremated is not so green - the energy it takes to cremate you and the CO2 it contributes - but it is better than burial - when you're preserved you're pumped full of formadehyde, then the casket has all of these chemicals/preservatives in it. Just plain old burial in a biodegradable shroud is the best thing.

**leighcat** · 09-27-2010, 09:19 PM

I don't want to be embalmed and shown off when I am dead. It isn't how I want to be remembered. I think it is humiliating even if I won't be able to know about it, it still seems wrong.
I would like a green burial but I don't know if my family would stick to my wishes. Cremation scares me. I don't like the idea of being burned like that. I have this fear that I will be able to feel it or something.

**IntlMom** · 09-27-2010, 09:43 PM

I officially don't care one little bit what they do with my body when I am dead and gone. My spirit with be with Christ!! They can do whatever they want with the shell that remains... I won't be needing it where I'm going!!!!!!!!!!!

**mndtrp** · 09-27-2010, 09:51 PM

I think it has more to do with having your body decided for, so that the people close to you can grieve in whatever way they decide necessary, as opposed to having to figure out what to do with your soulless corpse.

I'm also against the cemetery aspect, and have leaned towards cremation. I'll look into other options as they become available.

**IntlMom** · 09-27-2010, 09:54 PM

mndtrp - that's a good point....... I will commit to looking into this.
OP - thanks for this thread

**KeithBC** · 09-27-2010, 10:32 PM

I had been planning on cremation because for years that was the only alternative to the standard embalming thing. However, within the last year, a new group has formed here with the intention of opening a green cemetery. They have the land and the zoning, so it is on track to open soon.

I might just change my druthers to green burial. I kind of like the idea of pushing up daisies literally. I'd like to decompose as fast as possible, not be pumped full of chemicals in a vain attempt to postpone the inevitable.

**Palooka** · 09-27-2010, 11:20 PM

I'd be all for a green burial and have read about them before.

**TheRootedNomad** · 09-28-2010, 07:33 AM

I read a book on simplicity one time called Shelter for the Spirit. I think it was by Vicky Moran. I loved the book. In it was a chapter about how the family of a little girl who had died had handled her being laid out and the response to it. She was laid out in a wooden casket on dry ice in her room with her blankets and her things before being buried instead of the whole funeral home, embalming thing. It talked about the childrens response to it and how the author felt when attending as well. I have said since that, that's what I want done with me. If you have to lay me out, do it at home with me in pjs or a t-shirt and comfy pants. Then bury me quick. (Although the living room is fine if hubby is still living

)

Hubby's not too keen on it so I don't know if it would go down that way or not. Anyway, it would be another "green" choice in my book choosen with motivations other than being green.

**freebs** · 09-28-2010, 08:23 AM

Several of you have mentioned you dont want to be displayed. I am glad that my baby brother was "displayed" I hadnt seen him in about 4 years and i wanted to "see" him again before we had to bury him. I am glad for the memories that i have of him but was so happy to be able to see him before he was put to rest. So putting you out on display isnt for you it is for the family that wants to see you.

**krbshappy71** · 09-28-2010, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by gottadance

Being cremated is not so green - the energy it takes to cremate you and the CO2 it contributes - but it is better than burial - when you're preserved you're pumped full of formadehyde, then the casket has all of these chemicals/preservatives in it. Just plain old burial in a biodegradable shroud is the best thing.

Ah ok. I don't like the situation of land being taken up for dead bodies. I know that sounds crazy but all I can think of is the number of Habitat houses that could be built on that land. Or low-income housing, it just drives me crazy to see rows and rows of headstones. (we all have our thing, don't we?)

**frugalfranny** · 09-28-2010, 03:17 PM

Originally Posted by KeithBC

However, within the last year, a new group has formed here with the intention of opening a green cemetery. They have the land and the zoning, so it is on track to open soon.

can you explain more about this? What will they require? Details please..........sounds interesting.

Will have to check the aud.article out....but I have let my family (and executor) know what I want......no embalming, (unless medically req. according to the way I die), no funeral, no casket, no urn!

Rather they follow my wishes could be another matter..........

**ruderring** · 09-28-2010, 05:40 PM

In Iowa it is now required that even if you are cremated you must be buried in a cemetery plot. Just went through this last year when my uncle passed away. It was his wish to be cremated and his ashes spread over the lake and the state now says not possible. I think it is just to get more money for the funeral homes because they know more and more people are turning to cremation because of cost. Green burial sounds pretty good to me no icky chemicals for me.