Weve been burying and cremating people for years, whats the big deal?
Although not often discussed, most people feel quite strongly that they want to be either buried or cremated, whether for religious, financial or other reasons. Burial takes up valuable land and there are concerns that the formaldehyde and other chemicals used to embalm bodies, hundreds of thousands of liters each year, leach into the water table. Maintenance of graves is also costly in terms of labor and water usage. Cremation, often considered greener than burial, uses massive amounts of non-renewable energy sources to maintain the furnace at a temperate of 800 – 1000 degrees Celsius. Although the technology is becoming more efficient and clean burning, on average, a cremation creates around 200kg of carbon dioxide. It also releases a variety of noxious gases into the environment including mercury (from dental fillings). The caskets or coffins used in burials and cremations use tons of steel, copper and bronze, and 30 million board feet of hardwood each year in the U.S.
