A greener way to go

Dying to be green? The TreeHugger’s Green Guide provides tips on how to take your green lifestyle to the grave. Literally.

The guide recommends, for example, forgoing the carbon-heavy cremation process and opting instead for biodegradable caskets made of materials like bamboo, willow and banana. And what about the chemicals used in the process of embalmment?  Environmentally harmful… ditch them.

When one considers the amount of energy used in the manufacturing of steel and hardwood caskets, not to mention the associated use of glues, plastics and paints, it’s easy to see how activities surrounding our departure from this life can affect the environment.

Eco-friendly funerals are rising in popularity to the point where “natural cemeteries” have already come to life in the U.S. Several groups are plotting similar operations in Ontario.

To find more ways to go green six feet under, check in with the Green Burial Council before you check out.