Green Burial Nova Scotia

 

 

If we can surrender to the Earth’s intelligence

We can rise up rooted, like trees.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

 

Greetings, my name is Dawn Carson, Chair of the Green Burial Society of Nova Scotia. I'm raising funds for Green Burial Society of Nova Scotia to develop sustainable burial practice in Nova Scotia. Hopefully one day this will be the only way to be buried in Nova Scotia - Canada - Worldwide.... 2nd only to body composting , but that's another story about sustainable urban disposition.

The money will be used to promote the development of sacred green burial preserves and cemeteries in Nova Scotia. Currently, there are interested parties trying to understand how to make sustainable disposition practices a reality in Nova Scotia. The funding is needed to educate the public and the funeral industry about green burial, assist in the steps to open a green burial conservation area like Denman Island in British Columbia. Presently Nova Scotia has one certified Green Burial Cemetery - Sunrise Park Interfaith Cemetery in Hatchet Lake

 

Green Burial is a natural alternative to resource-intensive conventional burial and cremation. The deceased is laid to rest in the earth with only biodegradable materials. To accomplish this, it is recommended that the body is not cremated, embalmed or placed in a vault, but rather be buried in a shroud or a simple casket.

 

Choosing a natural burial means choosing a low impact burial. Green burial is less toxic and reduces energy and resource consumption. The land is therefore protected from development and green space is naturally preserved.

 

Burial shrouds, 5 meters of fabric used to replace a coffin for natural burial and reduce decomposition time, return nutrients to the soil efficiently.

 

Green caskets are easily biodegradable, don’t add toxins to the earth as they decompose, and are produced in a way that's carbon-neutral.

 

Cremation figures represent approximately 70% of burial preference. Consider that a cremator(retort) needs to operate at [phone redacted]C for 75 minutes per cremation and it's easy to see how much energy is required. In fact, a cremator uses about 285 kiloWatt hours of gas and 15kWh of electricity on average per cremation - roughly the same domestic energy demands as a single person for an entire month. Mercury pollution (from dental fillings) and the formaldehyde resin (from veneer chipboard coffins and embalming) produce greenhouse gas emissions. All things considered, cremation has a significant carbon footprint, and carbon taxes are applied in some places in North America.

 

From an environmental perspective, it's actually better to fade away than burn out. Much better, in death, to compost down as nature intended.

 

Mother Earth and Green Burial Nova Scotia would deeply appreciate your support in making it possible to have a sustainable dispostion option available everywhere in Nova Scotia and in Canada.

 

 

For more information:

https://deathmatters.ca 
Green Burial Nova Scotia

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/going-green-when-it-comes-to-burials-1.5473125 
Green Burial CBC News Feb 2020

https://www.ted.com/talks/katrina_spade_when_i_die_recompose_me?language=en
Decomposition & Green ~ TED talk with Katrina Spade

https://www.greenburialcouncil.org/science_green_burial.html
The Science of Green Burial ~ how it

workshttps://www.cbc.ca/life/culture/green-burials-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-growing-trend-1.5340000  

More Canadians choosing green funerals The National ~ CBC radio interview