Green Burials Get Close to Nature

A few weeks ago the two along with their “ecorages” did a challenge to create a green funeral service. Tommy was to do the burial of Hip Hop while Ludacris gladly accepted the burial of Rock. Of course the host was Gene Simmons, the legendary lead singer of Kiss.

Needless to say, neither of them really incorporated anything green into their presentations, but at least the initial idea was a good one.

I had never really thought about a green funeral until the show, when it stated that enough concrete is used every year for tombstones to create a two-lane highway from New York to California (I don’t remember the exact quote, but it’s very close to this one).

So I did some research and found a great article on MSNBC.com that discussed the rising popularity of eco-friendly burials. Here are two entirely different yet very green ways that graves are going green:

Ramsey Creek Preserve in Westminster, South Carolina

This is the first “green cemetery” location in the United States. There are no huge marble gravestones or perfectly manicured lawns. Instead, there are simple flat gravestones, biodegradable caskets and a lot of natural land. Plus, no toxic embalming fluids are used.

Here are two pictures of the reserve:

Eternal Reefs in Decatur, Georgia

This company takes someone’s ashes, combines them with a safe cement mixture and then turns it into an artificial reef formation for marine life! These reefs will apparently last 500 years!

Here is a picture of the service and the actual reef:

After the initial disbelief of reading this article, I actually thought these were wonderful ideas to reduce the ecological and economical impact that cemeteries have on the environment.

I wouldn’t mind coming back in my next life as a natural habitat for exotic fish. Would you?