Funerals: Make your final farewell a more "Eco-Friendly" one

Graveyards: A toxic pollution problem

Link TV  recently reported on how toxic graveyards really are.

Yes indeed, death is a messy business. In America alone, 1.6 million tons of cement and over 870,000 gallons of embalming fluid — commonly containing formaldehyde — are buried along with 2.5 million caskets every year.

“What you have here is a landfill … a toxic landfill,” says Glen Ayers of the Green Burial Committee as he looks around a traditional graveyard in Massachusetts.

Proponents of natural burial want to reduce the pollution and resource waste associated with funerals, which also includes burying masses of hardwood and steel.

One solution is to use eco-friendly biodegradable coffins made out of cardboard or even banana leaves. Campaigners also hope to increase the number of natural burial sites, where plots blend in with the natural surroundings.

There are currently fewer than 40 in the US.

Maybe it is time for people to start writing in their "final will and testament" that they want their "final farewell" to be a more eco-friendly one....and you will be doing a good deed for humanity, even after you have died.

EU-Digest 

The Digest Group
Almere-Digest
EU-Digest
Insure-Digest 
Turkish-Digest 

For additional information, including advertising rates - e-mail: Freeplanet@protonmail.com   

Netherlands: First eco-friendly residential district made by residents opened in the Netherlands - by Mina Solanki

Housing in the Netherlands may be becoming more sustainable, but it’s not there just yet. There are however, communities which are making sustainable housing possible.

Together, residents, who are members of the Groene Mient association in The Hague, took on a project development role and have created an energy neutral residential district, which opened on September 12.

The eco-friendly residential area is situated in the Vruchtenbuurt in The Hague, where, the school, the Maris College once stood. There are 33 houses in the Groene Mient area, which surround an ecological garden.

The design of the residential area was created by Architektenkombinatie and FilliéVerhoeven, agencies in The Hague, in close collaboration with the residents, and was built by Sprangers, a construction company from Breda. All companies involved have experience with sustainable construction and collective private commissioning projects.

The residents of the area want to look after each other and the district, and they do this is part by using energy, resources and food in a sustainable manner. They refer to the project as a social ecological project, encompassing the social aspect as well as the eco-friendly goal. The residents share a communal area as well as the communal garden.

Read more: First eco-friendly residential district made by residents opened in the Netherlands