Green burials an alternative to tradition

By Lethbridge Herald on January 7, 2023.

Editor:

When you die, please take one for the planet by choosing a green burial. You don’t have to be buried in concrete or cremated using fossil fuel.

What will happen to your body when you step off this beautiful planet?

Here, in Lethbridge, you have three options.

You can choose a “full service” burial. This will include a concrete grave liner, a casket of metal, wood or particle board, and a tombstone. It might include flower wreaths and embalming. The environmental costs of all this concrete, metal, wood and chemicals are substantial. And so are the financial costs.

You can choose cremation. However, a growing body of research has found that while cremation may not be as environmentally damaging as full-service burial, standard cremations in most crematoriums require the burning of natural gas and, therefore, the release of greenhouse gases. The good news is that cremation is usually cheaper than burial.

Or you can choose a “green burial.” Lethbridge’s green burial grounds, Grasslands, opened in late 2019. It is part of the Royal View Memorial Cemetery and is located close to the entrance of Pavan Park at 5920 13 Street North. By choosing the green burial option, your body will be wrapped in a shroud and buried three feet deep in Mother Earth. No gravestones or markers are allowed, but your family can have your name inscribed on a plaque nearby. The soil covering you will be seeded with prairie grasses and flowers, and you and the disturbed soil will soon return to nature.

I chose a green burial when I knew I would die on Jan. 4 2023 by MAiD – Medical Assistance in Dying. I’m just a guy who is trying to get people to fear death less and to love life more.

John Warren

Lethbridge

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