Village-level eco-friendly columbarium storage rack manufacturer: Promoting green burial requires winning the hearts and minds of the people.

In traditional Chinese thought, “death and life are matters of the utmost significance.” In everyday life, the cycles of birth, aging, illness, and death are fundamental concerns that affect every family and every individual. Over the decades since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the funeral‑reform initiative to replace earth burial with cremation has made tremendous progress, and cremation has now largely become the mainstream form of burial in contemporary society. The greatest hurdle along this path has been a shift in mindset and public sentiment—moving from widespread misunderstanding, resistance, and even outright rejection to widespread acceptance, approval, and eventual normalization. This transformation has required not only extraordinary effort and unwavering perseverance but also the gradual passage of time and the cultivation of new habits. Today, as we take the next step—from cremation toward green burial—we will inevitably face similar challenges in changing attitudes and winning hearts and minds. It will demand sustained, persistent effort and the continued forward momentum of time.

Recently, the General Office of the Taishan Municipal Party Committee and the General Office of the Municipal People’s Government jointly issued the “Implementation Opinions on Deepening the Reform of Customs and Practices and Promoting Green Funeral Services.” According to the plan, by 2020, the rate of space‑saving and eco‑friendly burials will reach 50%.

Green burial practices—such as floral burial, lawn burial, tree burial, and sea burial—not only maximize land conservation and alleviate the financial burden on the public but also align with the contemporary trend toward environmental sustainability. Green burial benefits both the nation and its people, making it a commendable initiative that yields lasting dividends for generations to come. Promoting green burial holds great promise, yet it is equally important to be fully prepared for the potential obstacles and challenges along the way.

To make green burial practices more widely accepted and chosen, we must mobilize greater collective efforts and lay a stronger foundation. When infrastructure and services provide better conditions, when the ecological environment offers more space, and when a culture of green burial and the principles of sustainable development inspire greater willingness, we can expect an increasing number of people to embrace and endorse green burial. Even those who do not opt for it will likely view it with approval and appreciation. Given time, as more individuals come to embrace the理念 of green burial, they will naturally join its growing ranks, becoming part of an expanding community of green volunteers and contributing to the broader societal shift toward green burial practices.

Encouragingly, as times advance and cultural attitudes evolve, an increasing number of people are choosing eco‑friendly burial options—such as flower burial, tree burial, sea burial, or even scattering ashes—while still alive, thus making a nature‑centered decision about their posthumous arrangements. However, to broaden this mindset and turn it into a commonplace lifestyle choice for the public, concerted efforts across multiple fronts are still needed. These should include strengthening the legal framework, enhancing oversight, streamlining institutional mechanisms, and promoting new, civilized norms. For example, we can launch campaigns to change outdated customs and practices, helping people embrace environmentally sustainable and ecologically sound burial principles while shielding those who adopt green burial methods from unwarranted criticism. We can also substantially improve the capacity of green burial services, offering the public more and higher‑quality public‑service offerings in this area. Furthermore, accountability procedures should be initiated against those who illegally occupy farmland to construct lavish tombs. Finally, by fully leveraging public opinion, we can widely promote scientific, healthy, civilized, and frugal approaches to funeral rites, enabling the general public to clearly recognize the positive benefits of civilized burial practices and encouraging them to consciously abandon harmful traditions while fostering a new ethos of honoring the deceased through care rather than extravagance and conducting funerals in a manner that is both respectful and modest.