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The Bahá'í faith says: "I came forth from God, and return unto Him, detached from all save Him, holding fast to His Name, the Merciful, the Compassionate".

Everybody has to die one day, it is inevitable. Everybody wishes the re-union with the Almighty and succesfully complete the circle of life. A set of rules and procedures are unique to each religion and have their own set of ceremonies. But our ethics and to a certain extent, our religious fear makes us turn an unmindful and a rather nonchalant eye to our burial and crematory practices which have a profound environment impacts. We cannot and should not ignore our duty towards Mother Earth even in death.

There are two ways adopted by people irrespective of faith to pay homeage to their dead: Burial and cremation. Though mummification can be a little spooky, many people are adopting this method because of its extraordinary nature.There are many environment hazards.

Cremation entails the use of a gas resulting in the depletion of a limited fossil fuel and creating air pollution at the same time. Mercury is released from a person’s dental amalgam fillings which too, has an adverse impact on the environment. Still, cremation is hailed as a rather “clean” method because it attempts to maintain the ecological balance. A strengthening step in this direction would be strict regulations on the prescribed level of emissions by cremators and preservation of the cremated remains inside bio-degradable bags. Unlike India, where bodies are creamted on a funeral pyre and the ashes immersed in the holy river Ganga, in the West people are increasingly adopting creamtors for this purpose.

It is often believed that burial is a more-eco-friendly technique of cremation, but this too is debatable. The use of potentially dangerous herbicides, its effect on water supplies and the use of plastic and other materials used for coffin manufacture can pose a serious threat to the environment. Use of biodegradable coffins and caskets are better for the soil in cemetries. Tree plantation should be carried on a large scale in and around the cemetery to reduce carbon footprints and steps should be taken to convert them into wildlife reserves. This will greatly diminish the use of herbicides for weed control as well as cause only a minimal damage to nature and environment.

Although there is no disposition method which does not raise environmental concerns but what is important for us, is to be aware and go for “green burials” and “green cremations.Use of corrosive and toxic chemicals like formaldehyde to replace body fluids can be highly harmful for the environment. As enlightened citizens, it is our duty to ensure that the environment is best protected and all such methods should be made as eco- friendly as possible.