http://www.greenlifestylemag.com.au/node/302/full

Dying to be green

Eco funeral alternatives that allow you rest in harmony with the Earth

My mother wants to be composted when she dies. Not just in a figurative “give my body to the Earth” way, but in a way that befits someone whose passion for gardening knows no bounds.

Her final act will be to produce the lushest crop of tomatoes and zucchini her garden and this world has ever seen. I’m not entirely sure what the health department will make of this request, but my mother doesn’t care. She’ll be dead.

As the Baby Boomers enter their twilight years and begin to consider the details of their demise, it’s no surprise that this enterprising generation are pushing the boundaries when it comes to their funerals. And with the environment front and centre of society’s conscience, many are planning their funerals with future generations in mind.

“There’s a global movement towards green burial,” says Zenith Virago, death consultant and president of the Natural Death Centre Australia in Byron Bay.

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Go there and read. More next week.

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The post Being Green When You Are Dead – The world of death is getting greener all the time appeared first on Community Energy Systems.

http://www.kirlin-egan-butler.com/

http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x155906923/Tim-Landis-Butler-Funeral-Home-gets-green-certification

Tim Landis: Butler Funeral Home gets ‘green’ certification

Not only is it possible to go green. Among the newer trends in the funeral home business is going out green.

BUTLER FUNERAL HOMES and ROSELAWN MEMORIAL PARK of Springfield have obtained certification from the national Green Burial Council for sustainable funeral and cemetery practices, eco-friendly products and even organic snacks at the wake.

Butler is getting in early on the green-certification trend as far as central Illinois goes, but president Chris Butler said he expects others to follow.

“Some of this includes elements people are already asking for. They just don’t call it ‘green,’” Butler said of practices that include non-toxic embalming fluids or no embalming at all, using only natural stone, limiting loss of natural habitat, biodegradable caskets, burial shrouds instead of caskets and use of renewable products.

Butler Funeral Homes Inc. is among the city’s older businesses. Forerunner funeral homes date to 1893.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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The post Green Funeral Services – the other half of dying appeared first on Community Energy Systems.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Roselawn-Memorial-Park/121946907815445

http://www.roselawninfo.com/

And here is a great little write up on them:

http://wakethememory.com/blog/category/cemeteries/

Are There Green Cemeteries in Illinois?

I am happy to report that the answer is finally, YES!

The Green Burial Council in California recently approved Roselawn Memorial Park for green burials. You can now be buried in Illinois without a casket, without embalming, without anything but a shroud if you want.

I do not personally think that a green burial ground has to be approved by the Green Burial Council, but they have some strict standards that make sense, and their mission is great. In a previous life, I worked in the architectural world, and saw first-hand what it was like dealing with the logistics of becoming LEED certified, and know how hard it can be. Additionally, it is very expensive to become “Certified Organic”. I think it’s worthwhile to recognize any cemetery or burial product willing to become more natural, and I will support any company that tries to be better.

Here is their information. They do not seem to have a working website yet. I will keep you posted and update after I contact them directly.

Roselawn Memorial Park – Hybrid Cemetery
924 South 6th Street
Springfield IL 62703
217/525.1661

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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The post Green Burials In Springfield IL – I love these women appeared first on Community Energy Systems.

Who CARES if Michael Jackson’s died? I want my light bulb back! Sob… It just sort of flickered this morning and then it went out…in memorial:

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-EFG25E50-Capsule-Collection-Fluorescent/dp/B00008BKXZ

Get it for less! Order it used Have one to sell? Sell yours here

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Panasonic EFG25E50 Capsule Collection 25W Compact Fluorescent Lamp (Globe Shape)

Other products by Panasonic

7 Reviews 5 star: (1) 4 star: (4) 3 star: (2) 2 star: (0) 1 star: (0) › See all 7 customer reviews… › See all discussions…

3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Currently unavailable. We don’t know when or if this item will be back in stock.

Technical Details

• 25-watt bulb replaces standard 100-watt incandescent bulbs
• Cool, white lighting for bright illumination
• Up to 10,000 hours of burn time
• Consumes 70 to 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulb
• Starting temperature as low as -22 degrees F for reliable outdoor lighting

Product Description

From the Manufacturer
Pansonic Energy Efficient long lasting compact fluorescent lamp suitable for indoor / outdoor operation. Replaces standard incandescent 120V light bulbs. Over 70%-75% saving energy cost compared to standard incandescent bulb and 10,000 hours long life compared to 1,000 hours of standard incandescent bulb. Available in two designer color: Warm Color or Cool Color. Energy Star Standard. Note: Not suitable for use with dimming circuit, sensor, or photocell devices.

From the Manufacturer
This 25-watt, Panasonic fluorescent bulb burns bright indoors and out, replacing standard incandescent 120-volt light bulbs for a 70 to 75-percent energy savings. The bulb offers 10,000 hours of brilliant cool lighting compared to the 1,000 hours you get from standard incandescent bulbs. Available in two designer colors, warm and cool, this bulb is not suitable for use with dimming circuit, sensor, or photocell devices.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.8 x 3.8 x 5.3 inches ; 6.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00008BKXZ
• California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 warning.
• Item model number: EFG25E50
• Average Customer Review:
  

  7 Reviews 5 star: (1) 4 star: (4) 3 star: (2) 2 star: (0) 1 star: (0) › See all 7 customer reviews… › See all discussions…

  3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #72,675 in Home Improvement (See Bestsellers in Home Improvement)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

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I feel so bad because I bitched about paying 10 $$$ for the little guy when new. That is about 53 cents a year. Cheaper than an incandesent and it paid back in three years…

At the funeral one man said:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Light but…, January 28, 2004

The light from the bulb is excellent, the warm light feels like day light, while the Verilux daylight really feels too strong on the blue spectrum to me, at least I don’t see the same color under the sun light.The Panasonic bulb is great except it takes a while to reach full brightness(like 20 sec. or so). and it starts very dim. The 15w looks like a 20w. incandlescent for the first 5 sec. if you have not turned on the light for a while(10 minutes). which might annoy some people. Yet I don’t have problem with other bulb flourscent light with such a long delay such as Verilux.

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Kind of made him sound like a dim bulb but he was brighter than I.

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The post My 19 Year Old Panasonic Light Capsule Died Today – I am so sad appeared first on Community Energy Systems.

 http://www.welt.de/english-news/article2615803/Sea-burials-help-rebuild-reefs.html

Sea burials help rebuild reefs

23.October 2008, 15:21

A company is marketing a service for those who want to help the environment in the afterlife, or forever be part of the memories at a sports stadium. They are offering a burial service that is supposed to be an environmentally friendly and less expensive alternative to traditional burials.

 How is it done? Cremated remains are mixed into the concrete used to make so-called reef balls that it places at sites along the U.S. East Coast.

Tags

• burial
• concrete
• environment
• sea
• reef balls

Those interested in helping build a reef in a body of water don’t have to wait until they die, said Eternal Reefs CEO George Frankel.

“Not at all, but when you do, it is a great way to help the bay,“ Frankel said.

The concept developed from reef-building efforts by the Reef Ball Foundation, which has placed more than a half-million of the concrete domes worldwide. Many want to mark a birth or other special occasion, while others simply want to foster underwater life. A memorial reef ball costs between $2,495 and $6,495, although the cost of cremation is not included, he said.

The Chesapeake Bay site on the U.S. East Coast where eight of the memorials were placed earlier this month, for example, already has about 600 put there by a variety of groups and organizations above the rubble from Memorial Stadium, the former home of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team in Maryland.

The burial service is one of a growing number of funeral alternatives ranging from having your ashes launched into space, compressed into a diamond or buried in a biodegradable urn. In the waters off Miami, the Neptune Memorial Reef offers an underwater burial place for cremated remains, as well as an attraction for divers who can swim among its gates, paths and statuary.

 Sylvia Rennick of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, said the idea of her son’s memorial helping the Chesapeake Bay appealed to her more than a traditional cemetery plot.

“You’re around live things, it’s not all dead,“ Rennick said before her son’s memorial was lowered by crane onto the reef under sunny skies as family members threw flowers into the bay and read poems.

Afterward, she said the crew gave another of her sons the chart location of the site and he planned to visit it when he went fishing.

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They borrowed the idea from these folks:

 http://www.reefball.org/index.html

The Reef Ball Foundation is a 501(c) 3 publicly supported non-profit and international environmental NGO working to rehabilitate marine reefs.

Our mission is to rehabilitate our world’s oceanreef ecosystems and to protect our natural reef systems using Reef Ball artificial reef technologies. Reef Balls are artificial reef modules placed in the ocean to form reef habitat.

We have placed Reef Balls in 59+ countries and our projects have a global reach of 70+ countries.  We have conducted over 3,500 projects and deployed over 1/2 million Reef Balls.

Our projects include designed artificial reefs, ground breaking coral propagation and planting systems, estuary restoration, red mangrove plantings, oyster reef restoration, erosion control (often beach erosion), and expert collaberation on a variety of oceanic issues.

We work with governments, other NGOs, businesses, schools, research institutes, private individuals and community organizations and emphasize education on preserving and protecting our natural reefs.

 (WIKI Reef Ball Foundation for history/facts)

NEW! Reef Ball “Live” Updates
Post or View Current Reef Ball Project Activities.
Our Chairman posts updates here on a regular basis.

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Here is what they look like, new with you in them.

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Here is what they look like after you have been in the reef for awhile.

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If you are looking for other companies willing to burn you, put you in cement shoes and plant you in the ocean:

http://www.eternalreefs.com/about/foundation.html

ETERNAL REEFS

Our Story
Eternal Reefs began simply. In the late 1980’s a pair of college roommates from the University of Georgia often went diving off the Keys in Florida on breaks. Over the years of diving they saw significant deterioration and degradation of the reefs they were visiting. Don Brawley, founder of Eternal Reefs realized the reefs needed help. A decision was made to do something about the reefs’ declining health.

Once the friends were out of school they began to talk about what contributions they could make that would help protect and restore these fragile eco-systems. Creating a material and system that would replicate the natural marine environment that supports coral and microorganism development was what they decided to do. And thus the concept of the Reef Ball was formed – to directly rehabilitate and rebuild the dying reefs and to add new habitat to the marine environment.

They faced two primary design challenges. Stability would be crucial. The design needed to be capable of absorbing and dissipating energy in the marine environment without moving. It would need to withstand not just the normal tidal and current flows, but also major storms and the dynamic energy impacts that accompany them.
In 1990, the Reef Ball Development Group and the Reef Ball Foundation completed the first Reef Ball project near Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Since that time, there have been over 3,500 projects worldwide with more than 400,000 Reef Balls placed on the ocean floor. With years of documented history of stability and habitat development, Reef Balls have become the world standard for fisheries programs, coral restoration and habitat development projects.

In 1998, Carleton Glen Palmer, Don Brawley’s father-in-law, talked about having his cremated remains put in a reef. As Carleton put it, “I can think of nothing better than having all that action going on around me all the time after I am gone – just make sure that the location has lots of red snapper and grouper.” Shortly after Carleton made this request, he passed away.

https://www.nmreef.com/

NEPTUNE MEMORIAL REEF

The Neptune Memorial Reef project is the largest man made reef ever conceived and provides an extraordinary living resting place for the departed, an environmental and ecological masterpiece, a superb laboratory for marine biologists, students, researchers and ecologists, and an aesthetically exquisite, world-class destination for visitors from all walks of life.       

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