[Greenbuilding] Green Death

[Keith Winston]

I and others buried a friend last year in a homemade coffin (which 
several of us built, no chemical finish), in a field that she loved. To 
dust (dirt, earthworms, trees and flowers) we shall return.

We were helped along by an organization called Crossings, crossings.net.

Keith


Lawrence Lile wrote:
>  So much for recycling: Burials in America deposit 827,060 gallons of
> embalming fluid-formaldehyde, methanol, and ethanol-into the soil each
> year. Cremation pumps dioxins, hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxide, and
> carbon dioxide into the air.  It is actually legal in some states to
> bury corpses without embalming, however it takes special procedures (I
> know someone who insisted they be buried in this manner).  
>
>  Alternatively . . . A Swedish company, Promessa, will freeze-dry your
> body in liquid nitrogen, pulverize it with high-frequency vibrations,
> and seal the resulting powder in a cornstarch coffin. They claim this
> "ecological burial" will decompose in 6 to 12 months. 
>
> I wonder how much Carbon Dioxide each of us will turn into if we are
> cremated?  
>
> Personally I'll donate my body to science.  Let some med student learn
> how to transplant livers on me.  They'll end up cremating me anyway but
> at least I'll hit a lick for science on the way out.  
>
>
> -Lawrence Lile
>
>
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-- 
Keith Winston
Earth Sun Energy Systems
3927 Madison St.
Hyattsville, MD 20781
301-980-6325
keith at earthsunenergy.com
www.EarthSunEnergy.com