Its a populary belief in the Bahai faith that everybody is born and will return to the Almighty.

Death is a natural process of life. Life is a circle, everybody goes back to the same place where they started, a re-union with their own Creator. Every faith prescribes a set procedure, rituals and ceremonies in preparation for a peaceful afterlife. 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. To our last breath, we must fulfil our duties towards our Mother Earth.

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 environmental concerns in all these crematorial techniques.

Hindu tradition of cremating dead bodies on a funeral pyre is a cause of air pollution. Mercury which is let out fromt he decay of a body's teeth is bad for the environment. Cremation is inherent to religious beliefs and practices, however with an increase in population, there is an increasing stress on our natural resources. The Environment Ministry can release norms to regulate the emissions of cremations and impose the use of bio-degradable bags to keep the remains. What needs to be borne in mind is that, while bodies in India, in the Hindu tradition are burnt on the funeral pyre and their ashes immersed in the Holy Ganges, the West where this practice is becoming popular uses cremators for this purpose.

Burial, according to some is a more environmental friendly method as it does not cause air pollution but this remains a highly contentious issue. 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. People cremating their loved ones should insist on usage of non-harmful herbicides and biodegradable coffins and caskets. 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.

It is important to raise awareness of "green burials" and encourage cremation without creating unnecessary pressure on the environment.Use of corrosive and toxic chemicals like formaldehyde to replace body fluids can be highly harmful for the environment. It becomes are duty as educated individuals to ensure that our environment does not suffer.

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