Burned out with funerals on TV? No disrespect to our late Senator Kennedy, but replaying it?… all day long? Is it just too much? Two things came to mind. Why does it seem like we’re going to have Princess Diana type TV coverage more often. Larry King talked about Michael Jackson for two weeks straight….WHY?

Michael Jackson’s funeral (and his life for that matter) exhibited all the worst nature- and death- denying aspects of our artificial world. However, the incredible level of interest in his funeral – as in those of  other icons like Lady Diana, Ronald Reagan, etc - shows that the problem of our mortality is as acute as ever it was in history. We are too afraid to face the fact of our own mortality directly, hence these celebrity deaths become mirrors in which we can work through the problem indirectly, without fear. Far from being disinterested in death and funerals, we are fascinated.

Who’s talking about how Un-Green these funerals and coffins seem to be?

Unfortunately, the opulent coffin chosen by Michael Jackson’s family to bury the King of Pop is about as un-green as you can get. Made from bronze and coated in gold, the estimated US$24,300 Promethean coffin, from the Batesville Casket Company, is built to last and impress rather than biodegrade.

The Eco-pod coffin is made from naturally hardened, 100% recycled paper and is free from toxins.

However, green burial and eco-funeral options are becoming more commonplace. Green funeral advocates suggest using simple, non-chemically treated sustainable-farmed wood boxes or coffins and urns made from biodegradable materials. If using wood is an important part of the grieving process, consider opting for wood certified by the Canadian Stewardship Council.

Coffin and urn makers are looking for more sustainable options with coffins and burial urns constructed from recycled newspaper, cardboard, water hyacinth or banana leaf. Some of the green coffins and urn styles are lined with unbleached organic cotton, and urns are impregnated with flower seeds or tree seeds.

Daisy Coffins offers simple biodegradable coffins made from water hyacinth and banana leaf.

Mainstream funerals have significant impact on the environment from the overuse of endangered woods, toxic finishes on the coffins, the cement vaults, embalming chemicals, chemically treated lawns, and pesticide-covered flowers. The Natural Burial Cemetery explains that each year US cemeteries bury an estimated 827,060 gallons of embalming fluid, 90,272 tons of steel (caskets), 2,700 tons of copper and bronze (caskets), 1,636,000 tons of reinforced concrete (vaults), 14,000 tons of steel (vaults) and 30-plus million board feet of hardwoods.

That’’s a bunch of stuff we put in the ground with Grandma that goes into our water, etc…. never mind the motorcade.

Most of us don’t have the natural option even presented to us - we’re given a narrow list of choices and if we want to express our love or respect we’re told that money, as represented in the price of the coffin, is the way to do that.

Worse, when we belong to a particular ethnic group we can be stuffed into a box by even well-meaning people. I’ve been told recently that blacks and Hispanics will never want our woven or natural coffins, because they rely on material status symbols to offset the discrimination they experienced as minorities in their lives. If I were Snoop Dog I’d be sayin’ “It’s my Escalade with by Doberman Pinschers on earth and the most crackin’ coffin I can find for birf-day.”

Until natural options are presented to us in EVERY major walk of life, there aren’t enough natural choices out there and people who are “sick of green” should just chill for a bit til the natural choices can get caught up (over 80% of burial caskets sold in this country are metal, with poly-based interiors, and most of those are imported, only sometimes with parts assembled here in the US).

Are you saying to me, “I would never want a box that bugs could get into?”
I’m asking all my male genes to step forward and be THE MAN of the CASKET. BUGS? …. F- Bugs!
Hey, I just watched “Inglorious Bastards” with Brad Pitt and my testosterone’s pumpin’.

How do you feel about that wicker basket casket?

I don’t think it really matters, right? This is a long nap that’s in front of you.

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