Death is never an easy subject to talk about.  Everyone has experienced death in some way or another, be it a friend or family member, or someone that they know of but maybe did not meet.  Planning a funeral or memorial is also an aspect of death that people have to consider.  Open or closed casket, burial or cremation, graveside funeral or at home memorial?  Not only do those questions loom over the heads of the recently bereaved, but there are also now options on the table to make a funeral more green.

Green funerals are by no means a new thing.  Before embalming, caskets and cement blocks, funerals used to be incredibly green.  In the old days, people were sent off to sea, buried in linen cloths, or set on top of a funeral mound that was then set on fire.  People were brought back to the earth in the most essential way, and the people left behind new this.

Now there is a movement to get back to basics when it comes to funerals.  There are many new green options for caskets, as well as completely new ideas for disposing of a body or ashes.  Eternal Reefs is a company that offers a "Memorial Reef," which is a reef made from safe cast concrete, and it creates more marine habitats for fish and sea life.  They take the cremated remains of the deceased and mix it in to the cement.  Ecopods are another option; a coffin made of 100% recycled paper that will biodegrade with the deceased, and cause no harm to the Earth.

When a loved one passes, it is often a confusing time where a lot of decisions have to be made quickly.  That is why it is a good idea to talk about what funeral arrangements you would want with your loved ones, so they are not left wondering as to what your wishes were.  Writing out a green funeral plan ahead of time will save family members time in the future.

Death is an every day occurrence of life, and the fact of the matter is that people die every day and the Earth is not getting bigger.  Some cities are running out of places to bury their dead, as well as hazardous consequences in the cases of grown shift after a spring thaw.  Having a green funeral, burial and memorial will put off the death of our own planet.  Living green is not just about the choices we make while we are alive, but the choices that we make that extend beyond that.