Going Green: How to Have a Green Funeral

Traditional burial and cremation practices often affect the environment adversely. Considering that more than 50,000,000 people from all over the world pass away each year, this can be quite a serious matter. Lessening the impact is the increasing recognition of green funerals and eco-burials. This is the perfect solution for those who have strong environmental beliefs. It can be a meaningful and symbolic ceremony to honor a loved one.

The Statistics of Being Green

• 56 million: The number of people who die each year
   
• 50 million: The number of trees that are cut down in India to fuel funeral pyres. As a result, over eight million tons of carbon dioxide is released into the air.
   
• 200: The number of green and woodland sites in the UK.
   
• Up to 16-percent: The amount of mercury emissions in the UK because of the teeth fillings in cremated bodies. It is predicted that this figure will increase to 25-percent by 2020.


• 1.6 million: The amount of reinforced concrete buried in the US to build vaults each year.

Sources: Yahoo!, TreeHugger, Green.TV, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Green Burial Council