Eco-Friendly Funeral
What is a green or eco-friendly burial?
What makes a “green burial,” green?
A traditional funeral requires a lot of chemical intervention and unnatural material usage. For example, a typical funeral requires formaldehyde-based embalming fluid, the selection of a casket and perhaps the use of concrete or other metal vaults.
Depending on the materials used in the casket and burial vault, a negative impact can be had on the environment. A green burial, or natural burial, as it’s also called, aims to reduce the amount of unnatural material and waste used in the planning of and holding of end of life care.
- 827,060 gallons or 3,130,762 litres of embalming fluid
- 90,272 tons or 81,893 metric tons of steel in caskets
- 1,636,000 tons or 1,484,154 metric tons of reinforced concrete in vaults
- Over 30 million board feet or 70,792 meters cubed of various types of woods for caskets (including hardwoods and some tropical woods)
Why Choose an Eco-Friendly Burial?
Lower Costs
Being Closer to Nature
Better for the Environment
There are several reasons people are choosing to have a green funeral instead of a traditional one aside from being better for the environment. Green burial costs are significantly lower than that of a traditional burial. The average cost of a funeral with a viewing and burial in 2017, as stated by the National Funeral Director’s Association (NFDA) in this article was around $8,755. This included the cost of preparing the body, metal casket, and vault. Green burial can reduce these costs significantly as it removes the expensive chemicals, and the need for both the metal casket and vault. According to the calculations provided on the NFDA’s website, this can save a person in excess of $3,795. Another reason people could choose to partake in a green funeral is they would like to be closer to nature at the time of their passing. Some people believe that being buried naturally in the earth will reconnect their mind, body, and soul with nature.
If you are looking for a way to have a green cremation rather than burial, there are many options for that as well. Biodegradable urns are becoming more popular, some that involve being planted with a tree or even cremation methods that use water instead of heat.
We have made a list of some of the key considerations and ideas when planning to have a green burial or cremation.
- Do the research. The more informed you are, the better decisions you can make on behalf of yourself or a loved one. Reach out to learn more about your local funeral homes or burial grounds to make sure they can complete what you are requesting.
- Consider your religious or spiritual beliefs. As mentioned above, a reason someone might decide to have a green burial is to bring their soul back to the earth. If this does not align with your beliefs consider some alternative methods of continuing with a green burial.
- If a casket must be used, consider one made of organic wood with no treatments or even a biodegradable material like recycled cardboard.
- Compost or donate left over food from any reception, most homeless shelters will gladly accept any kind of donation.
- Limit the amount of paper printed out; have a virtual register book or memorial video/slide show instead of printing out pictures
- Consider having a video stream of your funeral for those who must drive long distances. The fuel emissions they would put out by driving to the service can be negated by being able to watch via video stream.
