China is actively promoting the idea of “green burial” as 16,556 acres of land is being consumed for building tombs to cremate 20 million Chinese dying each year.
May 18, 2007
April 10, 2007
Woodland Burial System to Debut Next Year (Korea)
By Park Chung, The Korea Times
A woodland burial system is scheduled to go into effect from next year but initial confusion has pitted policymakers against environmental activists. Civil activists claimed that the new burial system would ruin nature, as it will expand burial sites in forests.
Woodland Burial System to Debut Next Year (Korea)
By Park Chung, Korea Times
A woodland burial system is scheduled to go into effect from next year but initial confusion has pitted policymakers against environmental activists.
February 21, 2007
Muslims in Germany Choose to be Buried Abroad
By Michael Scott Moore, Spiegel (Berlin)
As the first generation of Muslim immigrants to Germany get older, over 70 percent still plan to be buried in the country of their birth. Is integration a problem even in death? Yemos Vurgun was the frail matriarch of a Turkish immigrant family when she died in 1994, aged 90, and although she’d spent her last 14 years in Berlin, her son Ali Riza put her travel papers in order: She had one last trip to make.
February 19, 2007
Sleep with the fish: Marlborough man plans burial reef (New Zealand)
Stuff.co.nz
A Marlborough man plans to give deceased nature-lovers the chance to permanently sleep with fish. Clive Barker, of the Marlborough Reef Trust, is seeking resource consent to build New Zealand’s first eco-burial reef.
February 25, 2006
Death - a greener way to go (South Africa)
Olivia Rose-Innes, Health24
Deciding what to do with our mortal remains depends on various factors: religious, cultural, financial - and now, as concern for the planet’s fate grows, environmental.
December 14, 2005
Rest in peace (New Zealand)
By Jamie Oliver, Nantwich Chronicle
ONE of the first private woodland burial grounds in the country could be opened at Nantwich. It will cater for people who want an alternative to traditional cemeteries.
November 10, 2005
More Than a Billion Chinese but So Few Coffins (China)
By Keith Bradsher, New York Times
LIUZHOU, China - In China these days, just about every form of commerce is thriving, including decidedly illegal ones like prostitution and counterfeiting. But not coffin making.
June 24, 2005
Auckland natural cemetery site search (New Zealand)
Scoop Independent News
Prompted by the looming cemetery space shortage, Natural Burials has announced that it is looking for sites in Auckland to turn into natural cemeteries. The not for profit organisation has today issued a call to Aucklanders for offers of land larger than 10 acres that could be turned into a natural cemetery.
May 26, 2004
China-made coffins pose threat to U.S. casket makers
Cheap toys, clothing, electronics, furniture … now even coffins: Chinese exporters are serving American consumers from cradle to grave.
NEW YORK (Reuters)
Low-priced caskets made in China still represent a small portion of the U.S. market, but are viewed as a serious threat by the domestic industry which, beyond a few major players, is highly fragmented.