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Leaving this world the green way is easier on the environment than burying a body embalmed with harmful chemicals in a metal casket surrounded by reinforced cement. The green way uses fewer resources and does little to interfere with the natural decomposition process, so the body can quickly become part of the earth. Green funerals and burials are lighter on the pocketbook as well, costing several thousand dollars less.
How to arrange for a green funeral and burial
Before you start
Your ability to arrange for a green funeral and burial depends largely on what services are available in your area. Eco-friendly cemeteries are few and far between (although growing in popularity). Additionally, local funeral directors may not offer biodegradable caskets, nor be open to visitation services without having the body embalmed first. Therefore, it helps to know various laws and rights before you initiate a dialogue with a funeral director.
- In the US, you're not legally required to use a funeral home to plan and conduct a funeral.
- Embalming isn't required by law. However, many funeral homes lack refrigeration and may require embalming if you plan for a viewing.
- A family has the right to purchase goods and services from third-party vendors. For example, a funeral director cannot refuse or charge a fee to handle a simple wicker casket purchased elsewhere.
- State laws don't require a cement vault or grave liner to be buried with the casket. However, most cemeteries require the installation of some type of outer burial container to prevent the grave from sinking in the future.
- Each state has specific laws governing the funeral and burial trades.
Green funeral and burial options
Traditionally, a funeral director helps the family make decisions about a memorial and burial. Therefore, it’s important to find a funeral director who is willing to accommodate your green intentions. Even if green funeral directors are scarce in your area, you can consider these steps to lighten your load in the earth.
- Arrange for a direct burial without a viewing or visitation service. A quick burial avoids the use of toxic embalming fluids.
- Ask for the body to be refrigerated instead of embalmed. Traditional funeral directors will want to preserve the body if you desire a viewing or visitation service with an open casket. If refrigeration isn't available, ice or dry ice can be used to preserve the body until burial. Note: dry ice is solid carbon dioxide that's harvested as a byproduct of the petroleum industry. When exposed to air, it releases this greenhouse gas.
- Reduce the number of cars in a funeral procession. If you arrange for a graveside service, rent large passenger vans or suggest that families carpool to reduce carbon emissions. For formal funeral cortèges, green limo services are an option.
- Choose a biodegradable casket for burial. Or, if being buried in a green cemetery, you may also wish to consider a simple cloth shroud.
- Ask for donations to charity instead of flowers. If you do display a few arrangements, choose organic or local flower growers. Seventy percent of cut flowers in the US are imported, and likely to be sprayed with pesticides and other chemicals. Buying local or organic reduces your carbon and chemical footprint.
- Consider a home funeral. Family-directed funerals where family members care for the body and transport it to the cemetery or crematory avoids the use of embalming fluids and other chemicals used by traditional funeral homes.
- Be buried in a green cemetery. With an emphasis on maintaining a natural setting, these cemeteries don't use irrigation or resource-intensive lawn care. Nor do they allow metal caskets, vaults, or elaborate headstones.
- If possible, decline the use of a cement vault. Buried around the casket, these vaults are designed to prevent the ground from sinking in when the casket and body decompose. Unfortunately, most mainstream cemeteries require either a vault with a lid or a simpler grave liner.
- Choose a headstone quarried locally. Most cemeteries have restrictions on size and placement of memorial stones. Choose the minimum size and try to find a local monument builder who gets stone locally, reducing the amount of fuel used to transport it. If burial is in a green cemetery, choose to plant a native tree or other vegetation.
- Be buried at sea. The EPA allows bodies and cremated remains to be slipped into the sea where they decompose naturally. It may also be possible to be buried in a lake or river but these burials are regulated according to the clean water act and a permit may be required.
*reprinted from www. Greenyour.com