Anyone who has lost someone through sickness or an accident will know how confusing the weeks following this can be. People may have not talked about how they wanted their funeral to be performed, or voiced an opinion of what should happen at the end. However, with a green burial, everyone will be pleased with the end result. Being laid to rest in a green cemetery means that we will go back to the earth and give up out body to it. It is the coming thing that people are trying not to add more bad things to the earth and trying to save it. Even a simple funeral will produce a lot of waste that will take forever to break down. Metal coffins, meant to preserve the body, will in fact eventually poison the earth because they do not decompose. Even hardwood coffins do not break down so easily and eventually we will have to find another way to cope with the bodies.

There are those who advocate having a piece of land put aside to lay people to rest, but not in the usual way that has gone on for years. What they believe is that we are all supposed to give back our bodies, when we no longer need them, to help replenish the earth and support the trees that grow there. This may sound a little hippy like but taking into consideration the way that we dispose of the dead, it could be the only way that will be allowed in years to come. Even cremations send out clouds of toxic smoke into the air for all of us to breathe. When a body is put in the ground, it has usually been embalmed and this means that the body is full of chemicals to preserve it. This chemical is not good for the earth, and will also give off toxic fumes when the fire consumes the body.

There is just one cemetery in the United States that follows all the rules when it comes to having a chemical free and environmentally friendly laying to rest. In a protected forest of over thirteen hundred acres, a site has been put aside for those who want to give themselves back to the earth in beautiful and tranquile surroundings.

Graves are large, about twenty by twenty feet, and lined with different kinds of herbs. When the body is put in it can either be in a coffin that deteriorates quickly or even just wrapped in a shroud that will allow for quick deterioration. This means that as soon as the body starts to break down, it will be absorbed by the earth which in turn feeds the trees and the earth.

Many people may be a little wary of suggesting this type of funeral to anyone who is contemplating their demise. However, those who feel that they want to give themselves to the earth in this way should let their next of kin know about this before death. This makes a trying time so much easier for all concerned and the person will have made their final and most important decision without their input. Surely, this must be a good idea in a world that is struggling under the burden of over population.

Connor R. Sullivan recently researched green burial methods for an article about ecological burials. A relative of Connor’s made future plans to be buried in a green cemetery. This and other unique content ‘green burial’ articles are available with free reprint rights.

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