Green Burial has become a third option available to families looking to minimize their environmental footprint when a loved one passes away. Being green and environmental conscience has become a way of life.
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What are considered alternative funeral rights and rituals?
In the past we saw traditional funerals whereby every person was embalmed, dressed, placed in a casket and put on public display for viewing, the funeral ceremony would follow the next day with a long procession out to the cemetery. The casket would be buried in the grave in a concrete vault and the top of the grave would have a granite headstone. Today we see alternatives to the traditional methods of disposition of the body. There are a number of reasons for the changes but most common are the following:
The perception of a lack of land
The high cost of traditional services
The transient nature of our communities (people no longer have roots to one community for generations)
The relaxation by the church to insist on traditional burial versus cremation
For these reasons greater Victoria has approximately 93% cremation the highest in North America. Because cremation deals with the disposition of the body so quickly this affords families the ability to take their time to plan a celebration of life whereby there are no time constraints to worry about the body being present at the ceremony or service. The emphasis now is on the life lived and not on the body as it once used to be. As such people are finding unique ways in which to celebrate the life of their loved one. Families are choosing to bathe the body themselves perhaps even dress the body themselves. The celebration of life takes on a party like atmosphere with tables set up showing the decease interests and hobbies. Often DVD videos are showing of the deceased life. The Internet is being widely used to share these memories with family and friends worldwide. At Earth’s Option we have been actively promoting green burial and the added involvement of family members in the celebration process.
What is green burial? It’s a process whereby the body is buried in a simple biodegradable container or shroud. The body is not embalmed and it is typically buried in a place of interment designated to go back to the forest or natural setting. There are no specific gravestones to mark the grave however there can be the use of a communal marker. When the burial takes place indigenous plants are placed on top of the gravesite. The fundamental idea behind a green burial is that there are no man made products in the grave or intervention in the process of the natural decomposition of the body. In greater Victoria the only designated natural or green burial site is located at the Royal Oak burial park. It is important to know that other cemeteries that say they offer green or hybrid burials may in fact still include some man-made product’s in the grave including caskets and or concrete burial vaults. This is only a means to capitalize on the green movement it is not truly green burial. Victoria region has been the leader in the province in the green burial movement. As such the green burial Society of Canada is situated in Victoria and its goal is to see green burials offered across Canada, www.greenburialcanada.ca. At Earth’s Option we offer one price for basic green burial additionally one would pay for the basic shroud or the basic green burial casket; there are several choices of caskets all of which have no man-made product including lacquer, paints metal etc. families are invited to consider pre-planning and preparing for the services. Please feel free to visit our website www.earthsoption.com for further information.
Guest article by Earth Options www.earthsoption.com
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