1. United States
2. Ark.
3. Letter

I am writing to express my support for the creation of a bill that would legalize for Arkansas residents the end of life option natural organic reduction, a safe and sustainable death care option that has recently been legalized in five states. This process would provide Arkansas residents with a funeral option that offers significant savings in carbon emissions, water, and land usage over conventional burial or cremation. Cremation requires fossil fuels and emits CO2 into the atmosphere, polluting our air and contributing to climate change. Conventional burials with a casket leach chemicals into the ground from the treated casket wood and embalming chemicals. One metric ton of carbon is prevented from being emitted into the atmosphere for every individual who chooses NOR over conventional burial or cremation. Burial space across the United States is becoming limited, especially in more urban areas. This leads to the increased cost of death-care options for individuals and their families. As cemeteries begin to fill up and land is less available for burial plots, people are looking for more sustainable death care practices. The creation of a bill allowing natural organic reduction in Arkansas would create additional options for death care practice that is more environmentally friendly and sustainable. Arkansas residents deserve the right to choose a death care option that is meaningful for them and their families. Natural organic reduction is my choice because it's a way to enthusiastically embrace the natural order of death. Death feeds life, after all, so it's only fair that we at the very least have the option to feed life with our own deaths the same way so many other living organisms do and have done since the birth of life.