Published: December 28, 2008 12:19 am      

Green living — and green dying?

Eco-friendly trends from the cradle to the grave

By Jennifer Jacob Brown

jjacob@themeridianstar.com



With troubling weather reports and unstable gas prices, the green fever that environmentalists have been trying to pass on to the nation for years is finally catching on.

People have begun recycling, eating organic, and driving fuel efficient cars like never before, and the green trend is now working its way into markets with which it was never associated until now. It's becoming easier for people to have a lower carbon footprint even before they can crawl — and after they're dead.



Greener child-rearing



Once upon a time, not so very long ago, eco-friendly child-rearing meant using cloth diapers, getting as many hand-me-downs as possible, and that was about it. A lack of easy access to green products and methods meant that only the most devoted environmentalists gave their children a really green infancy.

But today, keeping your baby's carbon footprint as tiny as he or she is has a much less burdensome task. Cloth diapers are no longer just rags stuck together with safety pins — they now come equipped with elastic and velcro, and some are made of eco-friendly hemp. If cloth diapers are too messy for new moms, there are biodegradable disposable diapers now available, which can be placed into compost systems and eco-conscious households.

All kinds of green baby products are becoming more widely available. At one time, only moms in large cities could buy organic baby foods for their little ones, but now such products are becoming available in smaller cities like Meridian thanks to the internet and the "green market" — along with organic baby food, eco-friendly baby shampoos, green detergent, hemp or organic cotton baby clothes, and greener baby wipes have become more widely available. Even green paint and furniture for the nursery is now just a mouse click away from small town eco-conscious moms.

There are tons of places to find eco-friendly baby products online. For a wide array of greener baby products available for online ordering, including clothing, furniture, toys, and hygiene products, visit www.sagebabynyc.com. For more green baby products, including flushable diapers, check out www.gaiam.com.



Green funerals



Green burials are another eco-friendly choice that is becoming more widely available — although perhaps to the chagrin of the funeral service market, which stands to make a bigger profit from traditional funerals.

Amongst Meridian funeral homes, the idea of green burials seems to be a bit controversial, with several funeral home employees asking to remain anonymous in their comments on this emerging trend.

With green burials, there is no embalming, and bodies are placed in either a shroud or a biodegradable box instead of a traditional casket. Bodies that have been buried green begin to decompose right away, whereas those that have been embalmed can remain in tact for many decades.

Though several funeral home employees in Meridian said they had been asked about green burials, they all said they had received no formal requests.

One worker at a prominent local funeral home who asked to remain anonymous said that those who have asked about a green burial quickly chose to go with funeral services in a traditional style after being informed that such burials do not include a visitation. Bodies that have not been embalmed, he said, need to be buried right away.

"The human body has a very rich chemical make-up and breaks down very quickly," he said.

He said that embalming is required by state law unless the county government approves a "pauper's burial." This, he said, is because of the chance that diseases from a body that has not been embalmed could present public health problems.

However, Lauderdale County regularly approves pauper's burials for those who can't afford a traditional funeral.

He said his funeral home is not looking to make green burials more accessible in the future, but added "We can do it if that's what people request."

An employee at another funeral home said that the main challenge to performing green burials is finding a cemetery that will accept them.

Robert Barham, of Robert Barham Family Funeral Home, was more open to the idea of green burials, but said his funeral home does not currently offer them.

"That's something that's just brand new, and the industry's just now getting supplies," he said, but added that his funeral home may look at offering green burials in the future when supplies become more widely available.

As for cemeteries in the area that accept green burials, Barham said, "right now I do not know of one."

For nature conscious folks who wish to be as eco-friendly in death as they were in life, but don't want to burden their families with the task of finding a funeral home that will perform a green burial, cremation is also considered to be greener than traditional burials and is widely available through funeral homes across the country.