More and more people are being encouraged to say goodbye to this earth in a more eco-friendly way. That means saying no to formaldehyde, no to embalming and no to metal caskets. Saying yes to biodegradable coffins like the ecopod or a simple decoratable cardboard, yes to a burial in an eco-friendly graveyard or yes to a do-it-yourself home funeral.
Part of the reason i find this idea so attractive aside from the fact that it has less of an impact on the environment is that it allows me the freedom to return to my cultural roots. My cultural traditional upbringing dictates that when a person dies, the corpse is smeared with ox fat, wrapped in rawhide and buried asap. My grandmother and father were both buried on the family farm in this manner with the ox fat replaced with ashes and rawhide with a cotton sheet. This practice leave no doubt in my mind that our ancestors were very environmentally conscious. It was very important that decomposition be facilitated to create a oneness with the earth. I do hope that when my time comes i too will say fare thee well in a similar cultural-friendly eco-conscious way.
Check out treehuggers suggestions on how to green your funeral. Also check out glendale nature preserve, an example of an american facility that offers green funerals.
I think one place that we really threw wood was in blindly accepting the Western traditions and ideas surrounding death without first exploring and learning from our own.
The African habits and customs surrounding death were so healthy from not only an environmental perspective-as you have pointed out-but an emotional and monetary one.
Take the Luo habits for example: Staying with the corpse in the house brings one to grips with the fact that the person is dead and no longer coming back (instead of us having theories as to whether Tupac is still alive)
The wailer brings out the grief in all so that all can mourn their loss and ‘get it all out’
For that week that one stays with the corpse all business of the deceased-debts etc- are handled.
Finally, healthy, environmentally conscious, cheaper ways of reconnecting one with the earth from which they came by burying them in their home as opposed to being an anonymous headstone in a cemetery.
Why we never ever commissioned investigations into the best way to handle death after colonialism I will never know? Here, many African communities, Ashanti of Ghana as well, were way ahead of the curve.