In recent years, interest in green death has surged in the West, as the human impact on the Earth has become clearer. Far from a destructive or polluting act, human burial is being reframed as a chance to mend our relationship to nature. The dream of green death is that of a gentle end: a death that is aesthetically beautiful, nourishes the planet, and restores community. Composting your remains or allowing your dead body to feed a tree seem like noble responses to the problem of our toxic bodies – a way to participate more fully in the flourishing of future life on our planet.
However, closer examination of contemporary eco-death technologies reveals that this dream is not so easily realised. It remains plagued by a lack of reliable empirical evidence, inflated corporate claims, and unequal access to new technologies. Can we truly hope to die green? Or is it all just greenwashing?