The Greening of Death

I really hate to be morbid—but I can’t help but comment on a few news items that I came across on the “greening” of death. These items show the depths of green insanity that seems to have enveloped the world. One reports on regulators in one Colorado community that want crematories pull teeth out of corpses to prevent cremation of bodies with mercury fillings or install very expensive filters to prevent the mercury emissions. The underlying idea for such a crazy mandate—that such low levels of mercury poses any public health risk—is absurd. But the proposed “alternative” to the filters is beyond grotesque and downright disrespectful to the dead. I was going to hold my tongue and not comment until I came across an article on another new trend: “green funerals.” Among the amenities for those who chose to go green is the opportunity to be buried in a biodegradable coffin made with newspaper! Maybe this approach makes some people (not me!) feel better about being part of some “circle of life,” but green burials—as this piece shows—can have serious drawbacks!