A recent column on Slate.com examined the various environmental aspects of the funeral industry and burials. Options, like traditional embalming and burial, cremation, and donation of one's body to science, are discussed in environmental and "carbon footprint" terms. For example,A private 2007 study commissioned by an Australian cemetery found that the average cremation at that facility produced roughly four times as much CO2 equivalent as a burial. However, when the long-term fossil fuel costs of lawn-mowing and general grounds upkeep were factored in, burials had a 10 percent greater environmental footprint.
In case you are curious (I knew you were), Wisconsin statutes include an entire chapter on disposition of human remains.
If all the environmental burial discussion seems like old news, the concept has indeed been around for a few years. Without endorsing a particular approach, I offer this example--a link to the Green Burial Council, which describes itself as follows:
Since 2005, the Green Burial Council has been working to make burial sustainable for the planet, meaningful for the families, and economically viable for the provider. And in that short period of time, we've emerged as the "gold standard" among consumers, land trusts, park service agencies as well the cemetery/funeral profession.
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