Green Burials with Esmerelda Kent – show 12

17 Apr 2010

How we live is how we die. That’s what my guest, Esmerelda Kent, told me. She’s a women of green whose Buddhist practice and the HBO series, “Six Feet Under” led her on a remarkable journey. Today, she’s the maker of beautiful, sacred  green burial shrouds for people who want honor their loved one’s life values in their time of death.  

In my interview with Esmerelda, we talked about how it all began for her and the remarkable moment of her mother’s death as she wrapped her in a silk chiffon cloth that soon became her offering to the world, personally and professionally. ”Service is the art form of the 21st century,” she says. Esmerelda also shares the state of the funeral industry today with its chemicals, embalming fluid and injections and how she’s making an impact one shroud at a time. This woman is a trail blazer and an inspiration for any woman serious about making a difference in the world.  

About my guest:  Esmerelda Kent left a career as a costume designer in the film industry to work in California’s first Green cemetery FERNWOOD in Mill Valley in 2004. She invented a totally new burial “shroud” product specifically for green burial which debuted on the HBO TV program “Six Feet Under” in 2005 in the Green Burial episode where Esmerelda was hired on set as a “Green Burial expert”. 

Since that time, her company, Kinkaraco®, has been selling burial shrouds, Green Burial Wash ™ and other products combining ancient traditions with modern technology to individuals over the internet.

After “years of fears”, the funeral industry has slowly begun supporting Green Burial with more green cemeteries & established cemeteries opening green sections every day. Kinkaraco is now carried in funeral homes and cemeteries in 27 states around the country. In 2008, Esmerelda Kent was named in BusinessWeek magazine as one of the “entreprenuers changing the funeral industry”. You can contact Esmerelda at: info (at) kinkaraco (dot) com or call (415) 874-9698.

Esmerelda’s favorite links:
http://www.kinkaraco.com
http://www.memorialecosystems.com
http://www.greenburialcouncil.com
http://www.naturalburialcoop
http://www.pinkmagazine.com

The 40th Anniversary of Earth Day is days away!  You can win our WOGderful prizes like:

• Edible Nation book
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TO WIN answer:  “What does it mean to be a woman of green?” below in our comments section. We want to hear your voice!  Thank you Ann, Amy, Lynn, Kathryn and M for your for your voices. Here’s what Kathryn from Australia said: 

“What does it mean to be a woman of green?” Community, Spirituality, Wisdom and Belief. Community – having the ability to reach out to the community and become part of a community is important. A community is a space where people share experiences, find a common bond and work together to become more environmentally aware and see social change community a key – as a woman of green we can create this. Spirituality – being spiritually connected to place that we live – smelling the air, touching the earth and feeling the warmth of sunbeams – relishing but remembering to also protect the environment in which we live. Wisdom – as woman we hold so much knowledge and inner wisdom that we can share and learn from. As a woman of green we need to remember to take time to listen to each other. Belief as a woman of green we need to keep believing– we can make a change no matter how big or small every contribution counts to the environment. We all hold a patch on this planet and together we can sew all these patches together to keep our people and world together!

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