Green death practices: sustainability at the end of life

Most people don't want to talk openly about dying or death, but the mortality rate is 100% and we are all bound to have some sort of funeral. Given the inevitability of death, we all have a responsibility to figure out what happens to our bodies after we die, as we are connected to others even in death.

If you are brave enough to consider your mortality and are willing to think about everyone's health, read on.

Source: Photo by Bernd 📷 Dittrich on Unsplash

All over the world, many people are grappling with the impacts and challenges of climate change. Given the challenges of widespread environmental degradation, thinking about what happens to your body after you die may not be the most important thing to consider. However, the way we approach the burial of bodies and facilitate burial practices has an impact on the environment. Environmentally sound and environmentally friendly burial practices can be defined as 'green burial practices' and are one practical measure that can be taken to help address the climate crisis.¹

This is a timely issue as the world population increases and, as a result, there are more deaths. While death practices vary widely around the world, one thing is certain: death practices affect not only us, but other living beings as well, and many of us are fed up with the industrial funeral complex.

Movement towards green death practices

In the field of thanatology (the study of dying, death and grief), there is a large movement to advocate for end-of-life practices that minimize contamination, harm and pollution of the environment. Green end-of-life practices support ecologically sustainable and sensible alternatives to end-of-life care.

This is in stark contrast to cremation and expensive coffins, which are harmful to the environment and represent an enormous financial burden for the bereaved.

Green burial practices are also done for public health reasons, as standardized burial practices such as embalming can cause the undertakers themselves to die prematurely from leukemia due to the chemicals used.² Embalming is the process by which the funeral director replaces a body's blood with various toxic and carcinogenic chemicals to preserve the body. Unfortunately, researchers have also found that embalming fluids can introduce illegal, harmful substances into the waterways near funeral homes.³

Conversations about green, natural and ecological burials or funerals are slowly becoming more common as people seek to reclaim their role in the cyclical natural cycle of life. Examples of green burial practices may include:

• Biodegradable coffins made from cardboard or locally sourced sustainable materials instead of chemically treated Hardwoods and metals.
• Alkaline hydrolysis (flameless cremation), which uses heat, pressure and water to accelerate decomposition without releasing toxic chemicals or carbon emissions.
• Sea or tree burials and other processes in which human bodies decompose naturally.
• Forest environments and green cemetery areas support conservation efforts and do not use pesticides, fertilizers, or the same fuels required to maintain traditional urban cemeteries.

For some, the practices of “green death” are also an expression of spirituality, that is, they consciously choose to return to the earth and participate in a new cycle of life in a changed form. For others, it is logical not to contribute to the ongoing environmental crisis and perpetuate the damage associated with pollution.

There are also problems with the practice of green burial, as completely green cemeteries are inaccessible to many and still little known. In addition, there is a risk that the practice of green burial will be exploited and become much more extravagant than necessary, given the multi-billion dollar funeral industry. This underlines the need for structural, political and social changes in the field of burial.

When we individually and collectively refuse to accept burial practices that are harmful to the environment or the health of our community, opportunities for change arise. Making conscious choices to protect the environment and the health of others at the end of life and working locally to ensure that these options are accessible and available to all can be very powerful.

Green dying practices offer a unique way to honor our relationship with the planet and our deepest values ​​while leaving a more compassionate and sustainable legacy for future generations. While we may not have a choice in how or when we die, many of us can express our self-determination by talking to our families about our end-of-life values. Creating an intentional plan around death can help us promote a meaningful death while reassuring our loved ones that we are leaving this life in a way that is consistent with our values.

By talking openly about death, we can better figure out how to honor our loved ones and ourselves. The more normal it becomes to talk about death, the easier it will be to imagine new death systems and facilitate more conscious death practices.