Earth Day: Dying green

Gail Rubin, author of A Good Goodbye and creator of “The Newly-Dead Game” sent me an Earth Day related email that I saved just for this weekend. Here’s what she wrote:

• Conventional funerals use enough metal to build a Golden Gate Bridge and enough concrete to build a two-lane highway from New York to Detroit - all going into the ground, every single year.
• More than 827,000 gallons of embalming fluid goes into the ground annually, eventually putting formaldehyde and other toxins into the soil.
• The average cremation generates 532 pounds of carbon dioxide greenhouse gases. The number of cremations is skyrocketing due to the economy and changing preferences. Pacific states, including Washington, average the highest rate, with almost 60 percent of the population choosing cremation.
• There is a way to get a green burial in a conventional cemetery.

(EndNotes endnote: A green burial is when a body is placed in a shroud or biodegradable “bag” and placed into the ground, no embalming.)

(S-R archives photo)