Green Burial a Stepping Stone for Humanity (Robby Buck)

 Green Burial a Stepping Stone for Humanity

A green burial is an alternative to traditional burials that avoids the use of embalming practices and utilizes a compostable casket. In class, we briefly discussed the emergence of green burials in natural parks across the United States. On my own, I discovered that green burials are one of the fastest-growing burial methods in the country. Also, families who undergo green burials remain more attached and less sorrowful about their family member who died. Instead, they interpret it as them still being there but in a different form. This approach embodies the idea of returning to dust, similar to how the natural flora of a forest returns to the soil. 


Figure 1: Depiction of a Green Burial


Connecting this to my previous discussion about the Aztec Empire and our responsibilities as stewards of the planet, the first step to stewardship is building a connection with the Earth. As a society, we need to move beyond the notion of civilization being opposed to nature. Nature is the source of our existence, and we should honor and respect it.

One effective way to shift people's perceptions about the environment is to help them develop an attachment to it and understand that death is a natural part of life. Therefore, green burials serve as important stepping stones toward future stewardship of the planet. If we want to preserve the beauty of our world for future generations, we must learn from our past and how our ancestors interacted with the Earth. For example, beavers create wetlands that allow for forest ecosystems to swiftly recover by providing pockets of species-rich areas inside a wetland protected from fires. These wetlands also act as refuges for wildlife, providing abundant food and marshy shelter until the fires subside. If humanity can achieve even a fraction of this interconnectivity with our planet, we can achieve heights we have yet to imagine.


Figure 2: Beaver-created wetland


References

NowThis, Earth. (2019, July 20). Green Burial: How Natural Burials Help the Planet. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5THrqZbQ-w 

Cleveland, J. (2023, October 2). Firefighting beavers. US Forest Service. https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/features/firefighting-beavers 

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