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our bodies are designed to decay. In this, we are denying the cycle of life (Rehagen, 2016). In refuting death, we are refuting "the very substance from which we are made - matter, mater, the Mother" (Herring, 2019). GREEN BURIAL: THE LAST FOOTPRINT 21 The findings from the literature indicate that the American avoidance of death has enabled an entire funeral industry to be built by distancing oneself from the death of a loved one and handing off to the specialists (Feagan, 2007; Fournier, 2018). After the rise of embalming after the Civil War, a funeral industry was born with profitable services to be offered (Fournier, 2018). This is coinciding with the modern “aesthetic of sanitation and avoidance of decay, which ‘constitutes a denial of deterioration by a nation that regards cleanliness as a key aspect of religious and cultural identity’” (Hockey et al., 2001; Feagan, 2007). There are misconceptions that a dead body is harmful and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “the average dead body is neither dangerous nor contagious” (Fournier, 2018). According to Robert Feagan, death and burial have become “professionalized, privatized, and medicalized” (Feagan, 2007). The corrective work of morticians to bring color back in the face or make them lifelike for the funeral and casket appearance is “tied to this era of denial” (Davies, 2005; Feagan, 2007). There is an idea of cleanliness and not getting our hands too dirty (Fournier, 2018). Fournier says that the loved ones left behind try to cherish and “honor the deceased as they were when they were living, and conversely, we try to hide all signs that they are dead” (Fournier, 2018). However, the outcomes of this approach and of these burial customs have created a multitude of environmental difficulties that continue to be hidden and unrecognized (Fournier, 2018). This denial of death can be seen throughout American cemeteries with trimmed landscapes and unnatural state (Kelly, 2015). Suzanne Kelly, the author of Greening Death, writes that by sterilizing decay through embalming, shellacked hardwood and metal coffins, and cremation has "amounted to a way of distancing the dead body from its decomposition and GREEN BURIAL: THE LAST FOOTPRINT 22 eradicating the ecological value of its reintegration into the cycles of nature" (Kelly, 2015). The dismissal of death can be tied to many religions and the idea of resurrection. The conventional burial practices grew from progressive ideas of hygiene, sterility, and purity (Feagan, 2007). According to Kelly, the death care industry in the United States is "ignoring the very logic inherent to the process of decay, making it seem as if it has no place, or value, in the natural world" (Kelly, 2015). A 2018 study revealed the tensions that develop between users of natural burial grounds and traditional practices of memorialization (Stewart, 2018). Everyone has different ways of both spirituality and remembrance. This strain brings up the question of how we are to memorialize our loved ones as different natural burial grounds allow for different types of memorialization and rules (Stewart, 2018). Based on this study, natural burial is "under pressure to frame its ecological dimension as an expression of the deceased's individuality rather than as an assertion of shared ecological anthropology" (Stewart, 2018). This rationale for green burials involves honoring the individual and their choice of a green burial as well as the environmental benefits (Stewart, 2018). Raising Awareness, Acceptance, and Practice: of Green Burials: the Role of Consumers in Behavioral Change Changing Human Behavior. The most important path towards the acceptance and utilization of green burials is changing consumer behavior. The strategy used to change behavior is important for ensuring success. Information alone is not an adequate driver for individuals to change behavior “despite gains in attitudinal views” (Fink, 2011). Although behavior is traditionally consistent, it can be changed under situational circumstances or other drivers GREEN BURIAL: THE LAST FOOTPRINT 23 (Sauerberger, et al., 2016). For example, information around the environmental and social effects of the fashion industry will shift consumer’s attitudes towards the industry, but will not necessarily lead them to make different purchasing decisions (Niinimäki, et al., 2011). Basically, awareness and education do not guarantee changes in behavior. Further research shows that specific set goals act as a driver for behavioral change (Bamberg, 2013). Creating a specific goal leads to the intention to change behavior which serves as the basis for implementation (Bamberg, 2013). Based on a 2014 study by Pagiaslis and Krontalis on green consumption behaviors regarding biofuels, their results showed that heightening consumer knowledge of environmental concerns may lead to a significant change in their views “toward various aspects of green consumer behavior, thus increasing their intentions to behave accordingly” (Krontalis, et al., 2014). Societal pressures are another driving factor toward behavioral change. As social beings, individuals respond to cultural standards or peer pressure (Schultz et al. 2007; Fink, 2011). For example, the use of normative messaging was used through “feedback on utility bills i.e.happy and sad faces depending on consumption” (Schultz et al. 2007; Fink,
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