Going green: recycle yourself
Care to be buried in a coffin made of recycled newspaper? A meticulously-crafted paper mache coffin can bring one to his final destination just as efficiently and solemnly. How about a wicker casket which is just as light and biodegradable? These are just some of the new earth-friendly ways of “going.” For those cremated, a special sea salt urn dissolves in a matter of hours when thrown into the ocean. It’s a dramatic way of blending (well) with Mother Nature.
Even in death we should think out of the box and unburden the world with our passing. Coffins and burial vaults eat up space in our tiny planet and may take eons to decompose. Metal caskets take decades to putrefy and they outlive even the memory of the one inside it. Chemicals used in the production of coffins, burial sites and embalming also take their toll on the environment. The earth is really under severe threat of destruction by its current (and outgoing) inhabitants.
If we eat organic, dispose of our waste properly and recycle non-biodegradables during our transient earthly stay, why not make the same pro-environment statement upon departure? Ergo, Green Burial.
Green Burial is a growing practice in many western countries but it’s not like anything we humans have not done. Green Burial simply means “natural burial” or back to “burial basics” the way our ancestors buried their dead. A Green Burial also discourages the use of embalming chemicals and non-biodegradable caskets.
In Green Burial sites in the United States, trees, grass and flowers are planted in lieu of tombstones or markers. Birds and other animals thrive in Green Burial sites that complete the cycle of life: those who died will not just decompose but bring forth new life.
An article “Nine Reasons why Green Burial is better than Traditional Burial” by Hal Stevens, published by Articles Base says, 56 million people die each year around the globe using coffins from about 60 million trees. As we all eventually die, so will forests. Must a tree die with us every time?
The article also says by 2040 the number of worldwide deaths would have doubled and by 2038 there will be no more cemetery space. The Philippines is way ahead of its time with cemetery space already gone today. Demand for burial ground is high for man has no control of his passing. But that does not mean he can’t save space.
In the Philippines most of us leave our mark on a rectangular “nitso” above the ground in dense public cemeteries. With ground burials in memorial parks, coffins are still laid down in concrete vaults below the ground. “Ashes to concrete, dust to metal” does not rhyme. The circle of life is broken and cement has been the quintessence of man, not dust.
Some can even be ostentatious by wanting to be immortalized in palatial mausoleums, complete with appliances that eat up real estate space and energy resources useful only to the living. Even in our final journey some of us don’t travel light.
Good thing more Filipinos are opening up to cremation. It should bring prices a tad more affordable. These days the poor bring nothing but debts to their graves. In public cemeteries one would see the burgeoning vertical expansion – “high rise condominiums” leased to the poorly departed. The indignity of being stacked up six feet above the ground (than under) is no worse than getting evicted if loved ones don’t pay eternal rent. Even in death the poor owns no final resting place.
It may take awhile before Green Burial catches on in poorer countries and it also takes time to unlearn Filipino funeral practices but there are things we can do for Mother Nature today:
1. Keep wakes short. If not waiting for relatives from abroad or autopsy procedures inter as soon as possible. Short wakes minimize the use of embalming chemicals and eases costs to the bereaved family
2. If you can afford it, go for cremation. It will minimize the use of wooden or metal caskets. Coffins used during the wake can also be donated as these are not cremated
3. Government should also build crypts for bones in public cemeteries and free up burial space for new deaths
4. Serve food in biodegradable containers during burials or cemetery visits. Cemetery trash consists mostly of plastic bags and wrappers. Most cemeteries are only cleaned during All Souls’ Day so it may take awhile to rid them of year-round rubbish
5. Offer smaller candles to the dead. Large vigil candles burn longer and may cause fires when unattended. Offer real flowers (than plastic) and use recycled containers as vases
6. Don’t stay long in cemeteries. The shorter the visit, the less waste you leave. Keep the noise low as well. Visit the cemetery to remember the dead. Party somewhere else.
7. If you own the burial lot, plant trees or flowers (in lieu of mausoleums). A few square meters of grass and garden can play host to biodiversity.
Green is the new color of the afterlife.*
