CHAPTER: Green Funerals 5 CE Hours By: Elite Staff Learning objectives List some of the primary principles of green burials. Explain what makes organic and fair flowers more expensive and Describe ways that traditional funerals and burials can be resource- what the certification signifies in each case. intensive. Discuss why cremation is considered both green and not green. Discuss common restrictions in natural cemeteries and explain the Discuss the risk of mercury emissions from dental amalgam during reasons for each. cremation. List three organizations that are associated with organ donation. List five ways to reduce the ecological impact of cremation. Describe alternatives to embalming that preserve the body for a List the minimum green burial standards (Level 1 – hybrid burial period of days. grounds) for Green Burial Council certification. Discuss how fuel and transportation costs can be minimized in List characteristics of sustainable landscaping (greenscaping) that funeral and burial functions. follow the reduce, reuse, recycle, rebuy formula. Explain ways that your business could assist with backyard or Explain the principles of integrated pest management (IPM). home burial products or services. Introduction More and more individuals who have been concerned with the of them at that critical time. You can provide these essential services. environment their whole lives are insisting that they maintain the same This chapter will introduce the basics of green burial and explain essential environmentally friendly or neutral quality in death. Survey what distinguishes green products and practices from those that are research confirms that environmentally friendly (“green”) funeral not environmentally friendly. It will also advise you on how to help a options are growing in popularity around the world, as well as in the family choose environmentally friendly products or locations for their United States. One recent study, reported in USA Today in 2010, found natural burial. There are many ways to incorporate green items and that 43 percent of respondents 50 and older would consider a green practices into your business to address the growing interest in these burial – up from about 21 percent in 2007.1 Another, published by the products and services. Once your business provides these features, American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) in 2007, reported you can join the growing list of eco-friendly funeral homes listed that 89 percent of its magazine readers favored a “green burial” over a with organizations such as the Green Burial Council (http://www. traditional burial or cremation.2 greenburialcouncil.org). In so many cases, those who want to incorporate green practices into The chapter is presented in three parts: their funerals or want to arrange a simple natural home funeral find Part I: Natural funerals and burials; what is and is not green. themselves overwhelmed by the grieving process, unable to do the Part II: Cremations – Green or not green. necessary research, decision-making, and cost-comparisons required Part III: Establishing green grounds. PART I: NATURAL FUNERALS AND BURIALs – wHAT IS AND IS NOT GREEN One of the primary principles of green funerals and burial is minimizing allow the body to deconstruct quickly, returning the body to the earth resource use and waste. The following section describes why certain as quickly as possible through the natural process of decomposition. products and services in traditional funerals are not considered green, As you are no doubt aware, traditional funerals and burials can be and distinguishes between environmentally friendly or neutral products resource-intensive. Additionally, cremation – chosen by approximately and practices and those that are potentially harmful to the environment. 33 percent of the population3 – has its own ecological concerns (See Part II: Cremations). Not only do natural burials use far fewer Green funeral practices (also referred to as “natural burials”) do not resources so the body can quickly become part of the earth, they also allow embalming chemicals, metal caskets or reinforced cement to be tend to be less expensive than traditional funeral products and services. buried with the body. The goal is to use as few resources as possible to Resources used for traditional funerals and burials Chemicals: More than 830,000 gallons of embalming fluid are used Steel: More than 90,000 tons of steel are used to make more than to preserve bodies that are buried in the ground.4 Embalming fluid 800,000 steel caskets each year.6 is primarily a mix of formaldehyde and ethanol, but many other Concrete: Cement and metal burial vaults, designed to keep the ground chemicals and materials are commonly used to prepare the body. from settling as the casket and body decay, require 1.6 million tons of Wood: More than 30 million board feet of hardwood lumber are used reinforced concrete each year.7 Most traditional cemeteries require the to build approximately 300,000 caskets each year.5 casket to be placed in either a sealed vault made of cement and metal or Funeral.EliteCME.com Page 1 a bottomless grave liner.8 In contrast, green or natural cemeteries do not will become a block of granite. Holes are then drilled across the allow vaults or liners, facilitating the body’s decomposition. bottom to meet the back channel and loaded with black blasting Stone: Thousands of headstones are made from granite and marble, powder. When the explosive detonates, the block is “lifted” or which are quarried using fossil fuels and a fuel-intensive process: Jet cut free from the surrounding stone. The block, about 4 feet deep, 4 feet high and 8 feet long and weighing as much as 10 tons, is burners, heated to 3,000 degrees F, are used to remove the rock from the 9 earth. According to the Monument Builders of North America web site: loaded on a truck for the trip to the manufacturing plant.” “The jet burner is like a small rocket motor burning fuel oil and Water: Traditional cemeteries maintain the landscape with gas- oxygen. The flame leaves the burner at about five times the speed powered mowers and synthetic fertilizers and water irrigation systems. of sound and at about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The burner cuts Natural cemeteries follow different landscaping strategies, using fewer through the granite, forming channels at the ends and back of what resources (See Part III). What is a green or natural cemetery? Most green cemeteries don’t look like the traditional cemeteries we metal detector can aid in searching. Others use global positioning find familiar, with green manicured lawns and headstones lined up systems (GPS) to locate sites. neatly. Natural cemeteries tend to look more like nature preserves, A number of organizations facilitate natural burials. The Green Burial with trees, grasses, wildflowers and shrubs growing where the seeds Council (GBC), for example, is a leading independent, tax-exempt, fall. There are often walking paths leading visitors to burial areas, with nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally inconspicuous engraved stones marking individual burial sites. sustainable death care and the use of burials as a means of protecting While each funeral park has its own set of rules, green cemeteries natural areas. Funeral service providers approved by the Green Burial avoid resource-intensive burials in general. The focus is on simple Council agree to the following:10 methods that won’t interfere with the body’s natural decomposition or ● Itemizing in a general price list eco-friendly service offerings and the intertwined surrounding ecosystems. Some common points are: products, including any green funeral packages. ● Bodies cannot be preserved with embalming fluids. In some cases, ● Not offering or making any representations regarding any bodies can be held in refrigeration at the hospital or at a funeral unapproved products (such as caskets, urns, vaults, concrete home until burial. box/grave liners and embalming fluid) as being eco-friendly or ● Excavation of the burial site is usually by hand to minimize impacts acceptable for green burial. on the surrounding land and to protect native plant diversity. ● Making available or requiring dry ice, conventional ice, ● Cement vaults or grave liners are not permitted. Instead, at a green refrigeration or nontoxic embalming with GBC-approved cemetery, the earth is mounded on top of the gravesite and the chemicals for open casket viewings. mound eventually disappears as the earth settles. Native grasses, ● Accommodating home vigils/viewings and the use of other offsite flowers, trees or shrubs may be planted on the mound to quickly facilities appropriate for funerals. rehabilitate the site. ● Making at least one employee available to participate in a GBC- ● Caskets and burial shrouds must be made of biodegradable approved seminar/webinar (minimum four hours) covering materials. No metal or elaborate hardwood caskets are allowed. technical, practical and ethical issues associated with eco-friendly ● Grave markers are simple engraved stones indigenous to the area. funeral service. Sometimes a native tree or shrub is planted instead. To ensure ● Not requiring any waiver/disclaimer that would have the effect family members will always be able to find a grave after nature of dissuading a family from choosing eco-friendly/green service rehabilitates the disturbed soil, burial sites are typically marked offerings/products. on a survey map. Some cemeteries insert metal nails at a site so a Common terminology The Green Burial Council uses the following definitions and chemical ingredient as previously defined. They must contain nomenclature, which will be used throughout the course: only chemical ingredients that are fully disclosed on a material ● Category 1: Caskets, urns, shrouds and alternative containers: safety data sheet (MSDS) and cannot contain any chemical ○ Basic materials of construction for shells, liners, fillers, ingredient described as a “trade secret.” hardware, handles and adornments are to be plant-derived ○ In any case of conflicting evidence or equivocal documentation, or recycled plant-derived materials.