ecobrief Living Green, Dying Green: A Natural Choice
M
any of us
are choos- ing to live our lives in a healthier and more environ-
mentally conscious manner. “We want to live green, and when it comes to the time of death, those same individu- als want to leave this world in similar fashion as to how they lived their lives,” says Shari Wolf, owner and funeral di- rector for Natural Grace, an exclusively environmentally-friendly funeral pro- vider. “The biggest challenge is that our culture doesn’t want to acknowledge our mortality, so we don’t think about our funeral and burial options until the last minute. Thus, families often don’t know other options exist that meet their needs in a more desirable way.” The concept of “going green” has taken on new life in the death care industry and funeral providers like Natural Grace exist to offer families eco-friendly options. From natural body preparation (versus embalming), biodegradable caskets, natural burial sites and even carbon offsets for crema- tion, death is becoming an area where we can lighten our carbon footprint. Dying is arguably the most natural phenomenon in the world, but modern death practices are not nature-friendly, according to environmentalists. Every year, the United States buries 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete, 827,060 tons of toxic embalming fluid, 90,000 tons of steel (from caskets), and 30 million tons of hardwood board in its cemeteries, according to the Green Burial Council, an independent nonprofit organization based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Shari Wolf is the funeral director at Natural Grace, 1601 North Sepulveda, #760 Manhattan Beach. She can be reached at 888-960-8882; info@
naturalgracefunerals.com or visit
NaturalGraceFunerals.com.
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natural awakenings April 2012
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