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July 24, 2008 11:36:39 PM CDT

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Greenies Can RIP With Eco-Friendly Funerals

Posted Apr 20, 08 5:35 PM CDT in Science & Health,  Arts & Living 

(Newser) – Greenies who bought organic in life can become more organic in death, the AP reports. Brits have enjoyed the eco-friendly funeral for years, but now cardboard coffins and natural fibers for corpses are catching on Stateside. "People are trying to think about what's the best way to live and with that, what's the best way to die," one funeral director said.

Eco-funerals aren't more expensive, either: Nixing the marble tombstone, switching from formaldehyde to dry ice, and trading in limos for smaller cars can easily trim the bill. So far the main problems are aesthetic, one burial ground director said: A cardboard coffin is "not terribly easy to handle and if it's wet, they don't look their best either."

Source Associated Press

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Potential customers look at coffins made of bio-degradable material at a 'green funeral' exhibition in London, Saturday April 19, 2008.   (Associated Press)
Potential customers look at coffins made of bio-degradable material at a 'green funeral' exhibition in London, Saturday April 19, 2008.   (Associated Press)
A woman looks into a coffin made of willow at a 'green funeral' exhibition in London, Saturday April 19, 2008.   (Associated Press)
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