You'd think by leaving this planet (and I don't mean by spaceship) that it'd lighten the carbon load since you're no longer taking up space and using resources, right? Sorry to burst your eco bubble, but death takes quite a toll on both your loved ones and the planet.
Most coffins, headstones and burial plots take up precious space, not to mention the formaldehyde that pollutes the ground during decompostition. "Well, what about cremation?" you ask. Think again: the process of cremation has a huge carbon footprint, using as much energy in one session as an average household uses in one week.
Lucky for us eco-conscious folks, Scottish biochemist Sandy Sullivan has come up with a much cleaner and greener option. He is the innovator behind the Resomation system: an "accelerated version of the body decomposition hydrolysis found in nature", says Sullivan, which is similar to " a non-burial alternative that achieves what cremation achieves," (minus all of the energy usage).
This article appears in Apr 7-13, 2010.