[et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]
Bringing your eco-convictions with you to the grave appeals to many environmentally minded souls as they seek to return to the earth with the smallest impact possible. While death has been a part of the human experience from the dawn of humanity, the ways we have dealt with it, including the body, have changed through history. Our modern approach to death is a recent exception to what has long been the rule of a more natural approach. Prior to the Civil War, families would care for their own dead in their home, and often build a simple casket. During the Civil War, as death swept the nation, methods were developed to preserve bodies for long journeys home from where they fell on the battlefield. Embalming was developed and modern funerals began to take shape. In 1882, the first school of mortuary science was opened, and much of what we consider a modern approach to death was born.
Today we are undergoing another wave of innovation in our approach to death with the rise of environmentally-friendly eco burials, or green burials. Green burials seek to minimize the impact of our footprint on the environment, even in death. For those wishing to be “green to the grave” and hold onto their eco-friendly principles even in death, green burials are the way to go. With the variety of options available, green burials can be easily customized.
Green burials are more than freeing up space in rapidly disappearing land available for burial. Cremation, long considered a green alternative, is not nearly as eco-friendly as one would expect. Cremation uses 28 gallons of fuel and releases 540 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Each year, the amount of CO2 pollution released into the atmosphere is equal to that of 22,000 average American homes. Still, this is better than a standard burial, where we annually use over 30 million board feet of wood, 1.6 million tons of concrete, 800,000 gallons of embalming fluid, and 90,000 stones of steel—or, as much as contained in the Golden Gate Bridge.
Now that we have sufficiently proven the need for an environmentally friendly approach to death, let’s consider some green burial options. While many gladly embrace the title of “Tree Hugger” in mortality, they can continue to do so in death—literally. Italian designers Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel created the Capsula Mundi project, where one can be buried in an organic pod that provides nourishment to a tree of your choosing that grows above the pod. It is a near perfect alternative to current practices that leave a human mark rather than a natural one. Imagine having your grave adorned with a tree of your choosing rather than a concrete tombstone, and instead of destroying a tree for your coffin, you are creating one. Families and friends could visit a “sacred forest” instead of traditional cemetery, where the natural beauty and peace will be enhanced with the natural elements.
Bodies are placed in egg shaped pods in the fetal position, and a tree of your choosing is planted with the roots grasping the pod. The roots eventually consume the pod, and are nourished by the natural minerals in your body. The idea of using our bodies to naturally nourish the Earth as it has nourished us is also what inspired the creators of the Infinity Burial Suit, also known as the ‘mushroom death suit.’
Inspired by the idea that “mushrooms are the master decomposers,” the suit relies on the ability of mushrooms to clean up toxic contaminants in the environment, says co-creator Jae Rhim Lee. Your body is placed inside the suit where it is slowly digested while the suit neutralizes any environmental contaminants, such as pesticides.
Green burials are changing the funeral industry, and ensuring a cleaner, stronger Earth for the generations of tomorrow. From the Infinity Burial Suit to the Capsula Mundi project, innovators are hoping to create a “cultural shift” toward greater “personal responsibility for environmental sustainability” in our cultural acceptance and understanding of death. Here’s hoping their ideas continue to gain popularity.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#9451a0″ allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” custom_padding=”100px||100px|” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”dark” text_orientation=”center” header_font_size=”40″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” text_font_size=”40″]
We are here for you
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”dark” text_orientation=”center” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]
Contact us for your free consultation today.
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_button admin_label=”Button” url_new_window=”off” button_alignment=”center” background_layout=”dark” custom_button=”on” button_bg_color=”#5b0f71″ button_border_width=”1″ button_border_color=”#520b66″ button_letter_spacing=”0″ button_use_icon=”off” button_icon_placement=”right” button_on_hover=”on” button_border_radius_hover=”30″ button_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ button_text=”Contact Us!” button_border_radius=”30″]
[/et_pb_button][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
