A traditional funeral typically includes a large-scale casket and a plot of land. Both of these main elements to a funeral are anything but environmentally friendly. The resources that made the casket result in a single moment of beauty- followed by an eternity buried in the land. It seems that the traditional format of a funeral is not particularly welcoming to the environment, and people are taking notice. These funerals also cost a lot.
A green burial is a social movement as well as a business one. People are clamouring for methods that reduce their carbon footprint, and death is a major contribution to the bad results in the environment. Gases produced during cremation are anything but environmentally friendly. It is reported that a single cremation uses about two SUV tanks of oil.
Methods for Earth Friendly Burials
There are certain cremation methods that extend a welcoming hand to the environment. They limit the toxins produced. Below are just three ways people are taking a typical funeral and inverting it so it is less draining on the environment.
- Instead of a wood casket that leaves toxins as it breaks down in the dirt, a burlap sack is used. It is quaint, degradable, and affordable.
- Embalming liquids made up of essential oils are reducing the impact left by formaldehyde cremation and treatment of bodies.
- A green cremation will use a metal chamber alongside a breadth of safe chemicals. The chemicals do not leave the residues and toxins that a typical cremation will provide.
The Celebration of Life
A funeral is about the celebration of life, and not the celebration of death. Yet, when the financial focus is catered towards the burial ceremony, it can sometimes appear that way. They are making a significant impact on the environment, and they are refocusing funeral experiences as a passage of a wonderful person, and a celebration of the spirited and ambitious person they were.
A traditional funeral is not a bad thing, and there still personal and religious reasons for going down that road. But, the benefits of an earth friendly funeral are clear. People are taking note.
