Natural fertilizers used by gardeners such as the one mentioned in this Sunday's gospel were surely more environmentally friendly than modern chemical compounds utilized in everything from agriculture to embalming. Recent initiatives to clean up the Great Lakes and encourage "green burials" are hopeful steps toward restoring lost ecological balance.

The Obama administration has developed a five-year blueprint for the Great Lakes, an extensive ecosystem plagued by toxic contamination, shrinking wildlife habitats, and invasive species. The plan envisions spending more than $2.2 billion for long-awaited repairs after a century of damage to the lakes, which hold 20 percent of the world's freshwater.

Among the goals is a "zero-tolerance policy" toward future invasions by foreign species, including the Asian carp, a ravenous fish that has overrun parts of the Mississippi River system and is threatening to enter Lake Michigan.

Others include cleaning up the region's most heavily polluted sites, restoring wetlands and other crucial habitats, and improving water quality in shallow areas where runoff from cities and farms has led to unsightly algae blooms and beach closings.

In other good news for the environment, people in the funeral industry say more Christians are embracing the idea of burial in cemeteries that strive to contain their own carbon footprint.

At Maryrest, which is run by the Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, only certain types of caskets, embalming, and grave markers are permitted in the new eco-section, the goal being to limit environmental damage. Nationwide, dozens of cemeteries advertise green practices as a way of countering modern burial practices that many now see as ecologically unsustainable. Church officials said they expect baby boomers to increasingly opt for it.

"The church is trying to be green," said Andrew Schafer, executive director of Catholic cemeteries for the Newark Archdiocese. "Being a boomer myself, we grew up going to recycling centers on weekends, we learned in grammar school about protecting the environment, and Earth Day came about as we were kids. We are a generation of people who have been constantly exposed to protecting the world and the environment. . . . As this group ages, I think they will seriously consider this."

"This is the way it was 100 years ago," said Robert Prout, a funeral director in Verona, New Jersey, who promotes green burial techniques at funeral directors' conferences around the country. "This is the way it was for thousands of years."

The term "green burial" can include cremations, when ashes are poured into a hole in the ground or buried in a biodegradable urn. About 30 percent of Americans are cremated, a figure that has risen in recent decades.

Concerns over the release of carbon dioxide and mercury into the air have somewhat damaged the green image that cremation held among many environmentalists, but high-tech air-filtration systems for crematories are expected to become more common.

Source: Articles by Jeff Diamant for Religion News Service and the Associated Press