Coal Mining

Environmental Funerals - Go Green after Death (coal)

By lee101

 Death is a part of life and so are funeral services. But did you know how much damage we do to the earth even after we have stopped living? Did you know that 60 million trees are axed every year to build coffins? Gases released during cremation account for 16 percent of the mercury emissions in U.K. Construction of vaults for burials lead to the introduction of about 1.6 million tons of concrete in the soil. The number of people who die each year is about 56 million now and this figure is expected to increase twofold by 2040, so things will only get worse.

We don’t really stop to think of the materials that are used to manufacture items like caskets that are used in traditional funeral services. According to recent research, the quantity of metal used to make the caskets used in North America is equal to the amount of metal used to manufacture the Golden Gate Bridge. Some funeral service rituals sometimes require embalming. Since these embalming fluids are supposed to retard the process of decomposition of the body by inhibiting the growth of bacteria, they also inhibit the growth of bacteria and other important enzymes in the soil.

To prevent all this damage to the environment, we can now choose to opt for greener funeral services.

Green burial tips

One way of ensuring that a funeral is environmentally friendly is to use a biodegradable casket. If you use a coffin made of used paper, buried in a place where there are trees and shrubs, the body will slowly become a part of the environment.

Another method is to cremate the body before it needs to be embalmed. If the body is embalmed, cremating it leads to air pollution because of the toxic gases released during the cremation.

Headstones also lead to pollution because they obstruct the growth of trees. Thus you may choose to have a living memorial for yourself or your loved one in the form of a tree. If this becomes a practice then it will be easier for the survivors of the decedent to cope with the loss because they will have a living substitute for the person who is no more and also lead to the planting of millions of trees. There are more than two hundred environment-friendly burial sites in England, so you can choose the one that is close to your home.

Another novel environment-friendly option is to get your ashes mixed with reef material. This material is then placed in an ocean. Eventually it becomes a new reef. This promotes the growth of organisms that grow on reefs and restores the ecological balance of the planet.

With so many options, it is now much easier to plan a funeral service and burial that will not harm the environment.

Article Source : Article King Pro - Free Reprints and Distribution

Environmental funerals need to be considered to protect the planet. Get more funeral information at:

funerals

Coal

Cowboys, Conservationists, and the Hopeful Herd

By Eric Eckl

 When we are trying to make something happen, conservationists sometimes think like cowboys. We break out the rhetorical cattle prod and try to shock the public out of complacency and into action with a stiff jolt of bad news. There’s a time and place for that — but to motivate people to actually do something, you have to mix the bad news with a more positive environmental message.

Here are some examples of cattle prod messages that have crossed my desk recently: Giant corporations will spend billions to control our elections, Massive portions of the ocean blighted by plastic trash, methane entering the atmosphere threatens to accelerate global warming crisis. Yikes! Sometimes the content of my morning inbox makes me want to just go back to bed and pull the covers over my head.

Of course, these messages are true. And you have to tell the public about a problem to make the case for your solution. But if you just jolt them repeatedly with the bad news cattle prod, you might demoralize and desensitize your audience. Sure, they might agree with you but they wont do anything.

To give you a flavor for what I mean, I recently ran some conservation outreach materials past a test panel of everyday citizens. Here are some reactions to the shock messages:

Shock Messages About Bad Environmental Habits:

There was so much garbage shown and the damage was so big that it gave me pause. Would what I could do really help stop all that horrible waste?

The actions of one person alone do not really add up to much.

Shock Messages About Financial Need:

My action/donation would only be effective only if I am one of MANY who donate. Land is not cheap

I wouldnt be certain my small donation would really make a difference

Shock Messages About Government Inaction:

Being only one voice, my single opinion can hardly effect political manueverings

I realize that state representatives receive hundreds, if not thousands, of complaints and suggestions everyday. Unless this action is taken on a large scale, I am doubtful it would hold a significant impact on government policies

Not exactly the words of people poised to spring into action to save the day, are they? These quotes underscore the urgency of mixing in some encouragement and words of success. Thats what author John W. Gardner meant when he wrote, the first and last task of a leader is to keep hope alive.

So listen up, cowboy you might get a few cows moving with your trusty cattle prod, but its the herd mentality that moves society. People find hope and courage in that herd. Read how our test panel reacted to some conservation messages that evoked the sense of strength in numbers:

When Told Others Are Working Together to Change Bad Habits:

one persons acts multiplied by many thousands of like minded people can have a profound impact on the problem.

When Told Others Have Already Done Their Part to Give:

having donations matched makes my action seem like it would have a bigger impact.

When Told Others Have Made a Difference by Signing a Petition to Officials:

“a widely distributed petition can have some influence on the various representatives of the petitioning constituencies.”

So, next time you find yourself sitting at the computer to concoct an environmental message that you want to motivate your some audience to some action, remember the importance of the hopeful herd.

Moo!

Eric Eckl writes the water blog about how to raise environmental awareness and promote conservation action. His company has developed the Due Diligence Test Panel, a service that nature protection and pollution control organizations can use to pre-test their environmental message materials prior to publication.

coal mining

Thursday, June 17th, 2010 at 8:15 pm and is filed under coal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.