Plotting a Green Burial

I found this really interesting. I had always thought that I would rather be cremated because it seemed like the better choice. But after reading this, I definitely want to look into it further.

The high cost of funerals—to both your wallet and the environment—has spurred the rise of eco-friendly alternatives.

By Billie Grable

A loved one has died and you’re faced with the delicate decision of honoring their remains. Will it be an “ashes to ashes” cremation, which would save space on our overcrowded planet? Or will you go with a traditional “dust to dust” burial—and return your loved one to Mother Earth? If you think either of these choices are 100 percent environmentally friendly, think again.

The mortuary-cemetery business has turned no-nonsense burials into a $20-billion-a-year industry—with little regard to environmental concerns and even less consideration to your pocket book. Funerals rank among the most expensive purchases a consumer will ever make. Traditional funeral costs for just the casket and grave liner can easily top $6,000. It’s a shocking expense a grief-stricken person must face—and an expensive way to further weaken the ecosystem.


The Problem with Burial
Each year, cemeteries across the United States bury an estimated 30-plus million board feet of hardwoods, 104,272 tons of steel, 2,700 tons of copper and bronze, and more than 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete—all used to build the caskets, grave liners and vaults designed to “protect” your loved one from the elements of nature.
Casket manufacturers are listed on the EPA’s top 50 hazardous waste generators list due to chemicals such as methyl and xylene used in the protective finish sprayed on the caskets exterior.


A grave liner or vault is required by most cemeteries (but not by law). Both are used to reinforce—or “protect”—the coffin once in the ground. In reality, their primary use is to prevent the earth from sinking due to the coffin’s inevitable collapse. A sink hole in a cemetery would ruin a perfectly manicured, chemically enhanced landscape.


There is no federal law requiring embalming, but most funeral homes encourage the process, which usually costs upwards of $800 and beyond. Embalming provides what the funeral trade calls a “memory picture,” or lifelike appearance, for the deceased. But even a well-embalmed body will decompose once it’s buried. The bigger issue is the disposal of the fluids used and extracted from the body during the embalming process. There is no universal law governing the disposal of embalming wastes—which, in some cases, are sent directly into the sewer system untreated.


While these facts can be overwhelming, there are better ways to help save the planet, ease the high costs of expensive funerals—and provide an environmental-friendly way to honor your loved one.


The Alternatives
Cremation
Growing research indicates cremation has a negative effect on the environment. Hazardous emissions from crematories, along with the consumption of natural gas and electricity for operation pose an environmental problem. By 2025, an estimated 51 percent will chose cremation over burial. This will create an inevitable increase in pollutants and decrease in energy supplies.


But even with its polluting potential, there’s a distinct green upside to cremation: It doesn’t demand land-polluting caskets and grave liners, or the use of embalming fluid. And it offers a variety of ways to honor your loved ones remains. Spreading ashes across land and sea is a time-honored option. And there are other eco-friendly alternatives to the traditional inurnment. Eternal Reefs creates artificial coral reefs out of concrete and cremated remains. The reefs are cast from various locations along the East Coast. The Georgia-based company provides families with an environmental living legacy that creates new marine habitats.
Another option offered by C. R. Concrete, Inc, a Spokane, Wash. firm, is to cast the ashes with concrete to create a memorial bench, yard art statute or patriotic commemorative stone.


Natural burial
While an ashes-to-ashes cremation will save valuable land space, a proper dust-to-dust—or natural—burial provides the only truly green way to protect the planet.
Think back to the days when our ancestors didn’t have ornate caskets, grave liners, vaults or embalming fluids. Loved ones were placed in an unadorned pine box (or more simply, wrapped in a shroud). Mother Nature provided the landscaping and organic return to the earth.


Fast forward to present day: Those traditions of our ancestors have been revived and given a modern term—the natural, or green, burial. South Carolina’s Ramsey Creek Preserve was the first eco-cemetery in the United States. The preserve was formed to protect and restore the land as well as provide a less expensive, more eco-friendly burial option. “Ramsey Creek helps heal broken landscapes and broken hearts while easing the fear surrounding the meaning of death,” says Kimberley Campbell, vice president of Memorial Ecosystems, in Westminster, S.C.


When buried in an eco-cemetery, the body decomposes naturally and supports the normal process of enriching the land. No chemicals or pesticides are used to manicure the landscape, allowing indigenous flora and fauna to provide a naturalized effect to the burial ground.
A biodegradable casket is used, made of simple materials such as pine, bamboo or a corrugated cremation container; all are priced at less than $1,000. With today’s natural burial, there is no requirement for a vault or grave liner. And the use of embalming fluids isn’t permitted in eco-cemeteries. In addition to Ramsey Creek, there are four eco-cemeteries in the United States. Other locations include Mill Valley, Calif., DeFuniak Springs, Fla., Newfield, N.Y., and Huntsville, Texas. If you’re not near an eco-cemetery, you can still do your part. Here are five tips to honor yourself or your loved ones and help safeguard the earth at the same time:

1. If you opt for cremation, decide how you want to memorialize the ashes before the time comes.

2. The cemetery, not the funeral home, has final word on the casket type. Ask if the burial can be completed in a simple casket, and if a vault or grave liner is required.

3. If the funeral home doesn’t offer a simple casket, look in the Yellow Pages or search the Web. If you can’t find one, go for the least adorned (and less expensive) model—after all, no casket can preserve remains for eternity.

4. Say no to embalming fluids. The body will decompose with or without them.

5. And finally, do your research … now! Learn about the laws in your state. Find out what green options are available before you enter the grieving process.