| Staging a traditional funeral can be a long, | | | | The price of a traditional funeral is so high mainly |
| drawn-out process that can cost thousands of | | | | because the cost of a traditional coffin or casket |
| pounds. First you have to buy a coffin. Next you | | | | is astronomical. Here are some alternatives: |
| must pay to get the body of your loved one | | | | * The Green Casket Company makes 100 |
| embalmed, and then hold a wake. Finally, you | | | | percent biodegradable casket from sustainable |
| have to shell out for an expensive funeral plot, | | | | wood sourced locally in South Carolina. They are |
| not to mention cover the cost of a post-wake | | | | all crafted from solid pine and contain no toxins, |
| reception, with drinks and canapes for each and | | | | stains, metal or preservatives. And they come in |
| every guest. | | | | three sizes: regular, large and extra large. |
| Some people are happy with all the rituals such a | | | | * Lunen Handicraft Ltd, based in Heze, China, is |
| funeral entails, and take comfort in the thought | | | | capitalizing on the Western desire for green burials |
| that burying their loved one means they now | | | | by offering caskets made from wicker, seagrass, |
| have a permanent place to visit them again and | | | | corn skin and bamboo. Shipping them all the way |
| again. Others, however, balk not only at the cost, | | | | from China to Smalltown, USA may affect your |
| but also at the thought of the estimated 50 million | | | | carbon footprint, however. |
| people who die each year taking up valuable green | | | | * WiseBuy Caskets offers handcrafted Amish |
| space, and end up making a hugely negative | | | | caskets made in Indiana that contain no animal |
| impact on the environment. | | | | by-products, stains, varnishes or plastic. "If you're |
| So what can you do? The answer, my dear | | | | looking for a green casket that is also stylish and |
| Watson, is elementary. If you gotta go, go green. | | | | a great value... this one is for you!" their website |
| What is a Green Funeral? | | | | reads. They also offer "stunning versions of our |
| According to the Green Burial Council, based in | | | | hardwood caskets specifically designed for |
| Santa Fe, New Mexico, a green burial is one that | | | | children". Might as well be advertising roller skates... |
| takes place "without the use of | | | | * Cardboardcasket sells, not surprisingly, |
| formaldehyde-based embalming, metal caskets, | | | | cardboard caskets. Their "Minimum Casket No |
| and concrete burial vaults. It's essentially the way | | | | 1601" is perhaps the cheapest on the market |
| most of humanity has cared for its dead for | | | | today - it sells for a mere $49.95. It is completely |
| thousands of years up until the late 19th century. | | | | environmentally friendly and comes with |
| In some instances, green burial can also be used | | | | convenient slot-and-tab assembly. Not bad when |
| to facilitate ecological restoration and | | | | you consider that a traditional wooden coffin in |
| landscape-level conservation." | | | | the finest wood can cost as much as $10,000 - |
| Proponents of green burials - also known as | | | | and more. |
| natural or eco-friendly burials - point out the | | | | Deciding to have a green funeral can make an |
| following facts when making their plea for more | | | | enormous difference, not only to your budget but |
| people dying green... | | | | to the environment as well. Many cemeteries |
| * Embalming is not environmentally friendly mainly | | | | these days offer to plant a tree in honor of |
| due to the use of formaldehyde, which is a | | | | every person buried, which is another way to |
| known carcinogenic, according to the US | | | | offset your carbon footprint and leave behind a |
| Environmental Protection Agency. It is estimated | | | | sustainable legacy for future generations. |
| that in the United States alone, one million gallons | | | | If you are thinking of a green funeral for either |
| of formaldehyde are buried in the ground every | | | | yourself or your loved ones, either speak to your |
| year, most of which will gradually infect our water | | | | local funeral director about what options they can |
| supplies. | | | | provide, or seek a green funeral home. You might |
| * Cremation can release a lot of dangerous toxins | | | | also want to get sound advice from green burial |
| into the atmosphere, including mercury from | | | | specialists about burials in non-traditional places, |
| dental fillings. Burning the coffin along with the | | | | such as natural woodlands. |
| body creates even more pollution. Using an | | | | If you want a more traditional funeral with |
| eco-friendly coffin, made of bamboo, cardboard, | | | | touches of green, you can make the passing |
| jute etc, is a greener way for us to blend in with | | | | more eco-friendly by using recycled paper for |
| nature. | | | | programs, using local organic flowers and serving |
| * Graves at green burials are marked either by | | | | organic food. You can also ask people to make |
| wild flowers or simple rocks, not by gravestones. | | | | gifts to charity instead of giving flowers. |
| And the graves are a lot shallower than the ones | | | | Remember, full natural graveyards decompose |
| used in traditional burials. Mark Harris, author of | | | | quickly, allowing the area to regenerate quickly as |
| Grave Matters: Journey Through the Modern | | | | well. They then easily can be transformed into |
| Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial, told | | | | picnic sites, playgrounds or nature reserves. "A |
| NPR that a ten-acre cemetery has enough wood | | | | natural burial allows you to use your funeral as a |
| that has been made into coffins to construct 40 | | | | conservation tool to create, restore and protect |
| houses, with enough concrete in the vaults to build | | | | urban green spaces," says the UK-based Centre |
| swimming pools to complement every abode. | | | | for Natural Burials, which helps people find natural |
| * In almost all states people can bypass funeral | | | | burial preserves worldwide. |
| home laws and have a funeral on their own. | | | | "Natural burial is a new idea - the idea that in |
| Check to see what the laws are where you live - | | | | choosing how and where we are buried, each one |
| you may be able to virtually do what you want, | | | | of us can conserve, sustain, and protect the |
| within reason. Sometimes you must have a | | | | earth... the earth from which, we came and to |
| certain amount of acreage to have a burial on | | | | which we shall return." In death we give life... now |
| your property. | | | | there's a happy thought. |
| Types of Caskets | | | | |