After learning that i grew up in a society where a typical funeral involves spending thousands on a fancy casket that wont protect the body in it, i wish i could have suggested a healthier option to my mother and her side of the family when they buried my grandmother. With that being said i decided to research more about natural burials, what exactly are they? What makes them more natural? What are the deceased buried in and how much do they cost compared to a typical funeral?
Naturial burials are burials that return the body to the environment as organically as possible, often in a wooded setting. By doing a natural burial you are not only helping the deceased but you are also giving back to the environment. In a natural burial, trees/field stones are usually. planted over the coffin and embalming (the process of injecting a body with preservatives to "protect" it) as well as metal caskets are prohibited.
Embalming is banned because the body may leak fluids that are dangerous to the environment such as formaldehyde in to the soil. In typical funerals, embalming is usually encouraged to give a more "alive" look to the dead when in fact it is dangerous, disgusting and expensive.
Home made coffins are used in a natural burial and are usually used made out of wood/pine. These coffins give people a sense of accomplishment, a better feeling than relying on someone else to handle a loved ones death. Often in typical funerals, people feel pressured to make a decision on the type of casket that they want and end up being pressured in to buying whatever they believe their loved ones will look better in which can end up costing them up to ten thousand dollars for protection of the deceased when fluids usually end up leaking inside the casket.
In a natural burial, it is an option to scatter the ashes rather than bury the body itself. I found this some what of a contradiction, isn't burning a dead body not organic at all? After doing further research i found that the process of cremating a body actually emits fossil fuels in to the air. I see this as a contradiction: although by scattering the ashes in a natural burial site we are giving back to the environment, aren't we also destroying it by burning fossil fuels? Maybe the ashes are burned in a different way in a natural burial compared to cremation, this leads to me to question: Is there a natural way to burn a dead body?
In conclusion, after doing all of this research and reading the book: "Grave Matters" by Mark Harris i have now decided the way i would like to be buried. If i have no control of what i do when i die, why not give back to the environment? I don't believe in heaven or hell, i don't think that when i die i'll be looking down at my grave and thinking: "man, i wish i could have been buried differently". I don't have control of my body once i die, so i mine as well die knowing i definitely did at least one "good deed".
WORKS CITED
Tabitha Alterman. Natural Burial: Build an Eco-friendly Coffin and Plan a Green Funeral .
Mark Harris. Grave Matters. : Simon & Schuster, Inc
New Funeral and Cemetery Services – Green Burials.
Naturalburial.coop. Green Burials Versus Traditional Funerals
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