Interest in ecofriendly burials grows in US
Green cremations, coffins introduced
NEW YORK - Respect for the environment these days doesn't stop at death's door.
Toxic chemicals, metal caskets, and concrete vaults, traditional tools of the burial trade, are giving way to options for going green even in death. The Parks and Wildlife Department in Texas plans to become the first government agency in the United States to let families lay cremated remains in protected forests for a fee to help the state buy more land for conservation.
Texas will cater to people concerned about environmental effects of the "death-care industry," Ted Hollingsworth, the agency's director of land conservation, said. "If tens of thousands of people want to take advantage of this opportunity annually, it could easily double the rate at which we're adding lands to state parks," Hollingsworth said.
The $12 billion-a-year US funeral industry will need a makeover to meet new demand for back-to-Earth burials and low-energy, low-emission cremations. Customers are curious about products from biodegradable embalming fluid to caskets made of recycled cardboard, said Joe Sehee, executive director of the Green Burial Council of Santa Fe.
Consumers are forcing changes on the industry, Sehee said. He expects to have advised cemetery and funeral associations on eco-burials in more than half of the 50 states by year-end.
"A year ago we had a dozen providers in our network," Sehee said. "We have more than 300 now."
Green burials aim to return the body to the earth quickly, leaving little impact on the environment, said Mary Woodsen, head of the board of trustees at Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve, in Newfield, N.Y. Preparations may include a cotton shroud to wrap the body and a casket-free burial.
Champion Co. of Springfield, Ohio, will introduce a nontoxic biodegradable embalming fluid this month that provides "reasonable temporary preservation," said James Bedino, head of research and development. The product challenges the industry's use of toxic formaldehyde, steel caskets, and concrete vaults, all meant to prevent decay.
"There are millions of tons of concrete buried in cemeteries across the US," Bedino said. "Is that really necessary?" Champion sells products to a third of the 22,000 US funeral homes.
Cremation, already seen as a more environmental option than a traditional burial, is getting even greener, said Paul Rahill, president of the cremation division of
The product avoids the use of virgin hardwood, weighs half as much as a wood casket, and costs 75 percent less. Cremations in the United States, which account for 37 percent of burials, are rising by 1 percent a year, Rahill said.
Matthews has also developed computer-controlled heat sensors that make cremation furnaces up to 40 percent more energy-efficient. The company later this year plans to install the first bio-cremation system in the United States that will use hot water, pressure, and an alkali chemical instead of combustion.
Maximal Design, an Antwerp-based company, in 2004 designed the Soul Ash Solace cremation coffin. The cardboard-wood design quickens burning in cremation ovens, reducing energy use, managing partner Maxime Szyf said.
People can also improve the ocean in death. For $2,699 to $3,999, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Neptune Memorial Reef places cremated remains in columns, lintels, and sculptures in a man-made reef about 3 miles off Key Biscayne. Prices depend on whether ashes are placed in "premium" or "standard" locations 40 feet below the surface.
The reef, built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, may someday hold the remains of 120,000 people, reducing land used for burial plots while promoting coral growth and marine life, according to Stephen Ziadie, chief operating officer.
