Americans don't love to think about this, but we'll all end up contributing to the billion-dollar funeral industry -- and to say it's not the greenest of enterprises is a deadly understatement. According to Mark Harris's Grave Matters (Scribner, 2007), Americans entomb more than 1.6 million tons of concrete and nearly 830,000 gallons of toxic embalming fluid annually, plus immense amounts of steel.

The solution? Forethought -- and green burial. Colorful Coffins sells biodegradable caskets and urns. The ARKA Ecopod, pictured, is made of recycled paper, looks like a peapod, and comes in vibrant colors; it's also handmade and biodegradable.

To find a Green Burial Council-certified funeral provider near you, go to www.greenburialcouncil.org.