Share & Voice: A "Green" Burial...Return Naturally!

Okay, so I know this topic might be a little morbid, but I have honestly gave it some serious thought. I have always wondered: what happens to cemeteries when they get full? After watching the documentary, "Green" and learning about all of the garbage people put into the ground, I thought: what about caskets? They go into the ground too! I did some research and found some staggering statistics about the pollutants involved in a "traditional" burial:

Each year, 22,500 cemeteries across the United States bury approximately:

• embalming fluid: 827,060 gallons, which includes formaldehyde
• caskets: 90,272 tons of steel
• caskets: 2,700 tons of copper and bronze
• caskets: 30-plus million board feet of hardwoods
• vaults: 1,636,000 tons of reinforced concrete
• vaults: 14,000 tons of steel

After even more research, I discovered that there is an alternative to "traditional" burials! It is called a "green" or "natural" burial. Below is more information about this practice (all information was taken from Wikepedia).

* The body is prepared without chemical preservatives or disinfectants such as embalming fluid, whenever that fluid contains formaldehyde or another active agent that destroys the microbial decomposers necessary to break the body down.

* The body may be buried in a biodegradable coffin or shroud. The grave does not use a burial vault and it should be dug to a depth shallow enough to allow the same aerobic activity found in composting.

* Natural burials that permit full decomposition can take place in conventional cemeteries as well as dedicated natural burial grounds. Therefore, the act of burial should be considered distinct from landscaping and management techniques (restoration ecology; habitat conservation projects; permaculture etc.) that may vary widely from site to site and are used to maintain the burial area in perpetuity.

* A natural burial ground often uses grave markers that do not intrude on the landscape. These natural markers can include shrubs and trees, or a flat indigenous stone which may be engraved. The burial ground may be designed with centralised memorial structures where visitors can sit within an emerging forest. As in all cemeteries, there are records kept of the exact location of each interment, often using survey techniques such as GIS.

* Planting native trees, shrubs, and flowers on or near the grave establishes a living memorial and helps form a protected wildlife preserve. Irrigation is not used, nor are pesticides and herbicides applied.

* Cemetery legislation protects natural burial preserves in perpetuity from future development while the establishment of a conservation easement prevents future owners from altering the original intent for these burial grounds. For people who are mindful of the cyclical nature of life, a natural burial is an alternative to conventional burial methods.

Some Additional Resources for "Green" or "Natural" burials:

1. GreenBurials.org
2. Green Burial Council
3. The Centre for Natural Burial
4. Find a Natural Burial Preserve in the United States
5. How to Plan a Natural Burial

After learning more about natural burials, I decided this is an idea I would like to look further into and seriously consider in a future funeral plan. As they say, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust."

Advocacy Project: Issue Overview

Introduction
· Problem: Many assessed rivers, lakes, and estuaries throughout the United States are unsafe for fishing or recreational purposes.
· Current Legislation: H.R.585, To direct the President to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate certain Federal rules and regulations for potentially harmful impacts on public health, air quality, water quality, plant and animal wildlife, global climate, or the environment; and to direct Federal departments and agencies to create plans to reverse those impacts that are determined to be harmful by the National Academy of Sciences.

Who is affected by the issue?
· Who is affected the most? Anyone who uses unsafe rivers, lakes, and estuaries for irrigation, swimming, fishing, rafting, boating, and industrial purposes. Also, anyone who consumes fish taken from rivers, lakes, and estuaries with poor ambient water quality. These conditions may also affect wildlife which uses the water for drinking or as a habitat.
· Who loses and what do they lose? People and animals loose good health and a safe habitat.
· Who gains and what do they gain? Industrial factories, construction companies, mining companies, sewage treatment plants, cities with storm-sewer outflows into bodies of water, and farmers gain an outlet source for their pollutant runoff.

What are the consequences of the issue?
· For the individuals mostly affected? Untreated human waste, sediment, oil, antifreeze, contaminated groundwater, garbage, acid rain, fertilizers, and other chemicals cause disease and death in humans and wildlife. It also destroys the natural habitat of many organisms and the natural environment for human enjoyment.
· For their families? The loss or harm of a loved one due to death or disease.
· For society? If these measures are not taken to correct water pollution, life on earth will suffer severely. Global environmental collapse is not inevitable.

What is the economic impact of the issue?
· What are the economic costs of the issue, and who bears these costs? It is expensive for the government to treat and prevent water contamination.
· What are the economic benefits of the issue, and who benefits? Water treatment and prevention costs money to maintain, but prevention is much cheaper than cleaning up water pollution that has already occurred. In the end, this could benefit the government by saving them money.

What is the social impact of the issue?
· What are the social costs of the issue, and who bears these costs? If these measures are not taken to correct water pollution, life on earth will suffer severely. Global environmental collapse is not inevitable.
· What are the social benefits of the issue, and who benefits? In some ways, it benefits society and government to not have to pay for treatment or clean-up of water pollution and direct the money to other important issues that also protect the health of society.

What are the barriers?
· What are the barriers to addressing this issue? Cost, clean-up labor, sustainability.
· How can they be overcome? Don’t try to return these bodies of water to pristine conditions all at once. Set goals for maintaining healthy eco-systems and may concentrate of the protection of populations of endangered species and protecting human health. Start out by focusing on the designation of uses, which allow for some water contamination as long as a particular type of contamination is not harmful to the designate uses.

What are the resources?
· What resources will we need to address this issue? Funding, clean-up labor, staff to monitor and maintain improved water quality.
· Where and how can they be tapped? Environmental laws may require government and taxpayers to provide funding, clean-up resources, and staff to correct the water pollution problem.

What is the history of this issue?
· What is the history of the issue in the community? Serious degradation in water quality has occurred in the Minnesota River over the last 150 years due to significant changes in land use. The poor water quality of the Minnesota River is due to the vast agricultural landscape that contributes billions of dollars to the economy of Minnesota
· What past efforts were made to address it? In relation to the Minnesota River, the DNR has posted signs warning of fines for dumping “garbage” into the river. Several forms of legislation have been passed in recent decades to try to control water pollution.
· What were the results? Stronger legislation is needed to reduce unsanitary levels of pollution.
Allies & Opponents
· Who would support this issue? Those who enjoy rivers, lakes, and estuaries for recreational purposes. In addition, anyone who’s health has deteriorated to due poor ambient water quality.
· Who would oppose this issue? Those who use rivers, lakes, and estuaries as a convenient source for runoff. In addition, government or taxpayers who wouldn’t want to cover the cost to correct the problem.

My Recommendation
· How do you want policy-makers to vote on this proposed policy? I want my local representative to vote YES on H.R.585!