How Green Are Your Wishes?
Iwan Gabovitch via Flickr on Earth Day
For those seniors who are a little more in tune with the environment there is an emerging ‘green burial’ movement. The interesting thing about the green burial movement is the variety of options offered. Most can be classified into two major categories: cremation and whole-body burial. From there many of the choices have to do with where your remains will be placed. Whatever your senior decides, or you decide for yourself, make sure that your wishes are known. Be sure to document your desires on paper, and so that it is legally binding, consider consulting an attorney.
Cremation
Surprisingly, when all things are considered, cremation is one of the greenest options available. Cremation is a process that quickly reduces the body to its elements. The energy needed for a cremation is largely offset by the equipment and labor that is needed for a grave, or a mausoleum. Shipping cremated remains has a smaller carbon footprint than does shipping a body. And modern cremation is done with scrubbers to keep air pollution to a minimum. Check with the crematorium about their equipment. Also, an ‘immediate cremation’, one without a casket or viewing, is generally the most affordable method of preparing the deceased.
Cremation is considered final disposition in just about every state, and thus a cemetery plot is not necessary. Ashes can be shared among friends and family, and scattered in a place that was important to the deceased, or put in ‘scattering gardens’ at your church. Eternal Reefs provides an alternative resting place for someone’s ashes. They mix the ashes with an eco-friendly concrete, forming a ‘reef ball.’ The balls are placed on the seabed, creating structures that attract marine species.
Whole-Body Burial
There are also a number of options for whole-body burial as well. Much of the focus for green burial is avoiding the chemicals that embalming puts in the body and thus the ground. Where toxic formaldehyde and mercuric chloride are used in the typical burial process, with green burial the body is refrigerated, or kept in dry ice, prior to the funeral. Then the body is placed in a cotton or hemp shroud before placing it into the grave. Biodegradable pine, cardboard, or wicker box, is used without a concrete burial vault.
As with cremation, location plays a factor here too. Funeral homes and cemeteries are offering green options. The Green Burial Council has a regional locator to help you find someone near you that offers these services. Some burial services have conservation areas where remains can be buried within land that is cared for in an environmentally friendly way.
If you’re truly serious about going out as green as possible, consider the rest of the arrangements surrounding your funeral. Some recommend that you ask that friends and relatives limit their travel for the funeral. Grist recommends, “Everything from using recycled paper plates to insisting on local wines and microbrews…”, and, “Just be sure to stress simple ideas and make sure to spell out how important it is to you.”
Helpful Links
There are a lot of Green Burial resources. Here are some of the better ones:
- How to green your funeral
- Environmentally Friendly Death and Funeral Choices
- Green Burial Council
- Natural Burial Company
- The Green Funeral Site
- Memorial Ecosystems
- Forever Fernwood
Related SHF Links
- Pre Paid Funerals: Weigh Your Options Carefully
- Arlington National Cemetery Eligibility Requirements
- Plan a Funeral for $800 or Less
- Funeral Resources: Whether You Need Them Now, or Not
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