Shades of Green: Demystifying Green Burials

Posted on June 2, 2010 by phaneuf

What is a green burial?
A green burial is done with the goal of returning the body to the earth so that it can be naturally recycled through uninhibited decomposition; green burials are intended as economically sustainable alternatives to traditional funeral practices. In most cases, the body is not embalmed and is placed in a biodegradable container (for example, willow), then interred directly in a grave without a concrete liner.

The first green cemetery, Ramsey Creek, was opened in 1998 by Billy Campbell in South Carolina. Since then, an emerging new movement for simpler, more environmentally friendly has resulted in a variety of alternatives to traditional funeral practices.

Cremation is also considered a type of green burial, because although energy is consumed to burn the body, its footprint is so small and its byproducts so marginal that it is generally accepted as a green burial practice.

Why a green burial?
There are over 22,000 cemeteries in the United States alone, and each year we bury the following with our traditional funeral practices:

Caskets – 30 million feet of hardwood, 90,272 tons of steel, and 2,700 tons of copper/bronze.
Vaults – 14,000 tons of steel and 1,636,000 tons of reinforced concrete
Embalming fluid – 827,060 gallons

Clearly, over time these practices will prove to be unsustainable as more and more land is consumed to create cemeteries and more and more of material resources, such as woods and metals are buried in the ground along with our dead.

Cost is also a factor, considering the average cost for a traditional funeral is approximately $6500 to $8000. Green burials cost substantially less, especially if the body is to be cremated and the family decides spreads the ashes spread instead of interring the body. We have the only green burial offering in the state of New Hampshire that approved by the Green Burial Council.

Are There Green Alternatives to Interment?
In addition to simple interment or cremation, there are a number of creative alternatives for cremated remains as well. For example, one company, Celestis, can send a lipstick-sized container of cremated remains into space. They offer several choices for the containers, including orbit with return, release into the orbit, lunar release, or release into deep space.

Eternal Reefs incorporates cremated remains into an environmentally safe cement mixture, using the mixture to create artificial reef formations that support new marine habitats for fish and other sea creatures. They have placed over 300 memorial reefs throughout the east coast and expect them to last approximately 500 years.

The Future of Green Burials
As the green burial movement continues to gain popularity, there are more and more green cemeteries appearing in the United States. Since 1998, the number of green cemeteries has gone from 1 to 12, operating in 10 states with 4 more are under development. We have seen an exponential increase over the last few years in green burials at our facilities, so it is certainly clear to us that the green burial movement is here to stay.

New Hampshire Now Has A Green Cemetery

Posted on November 20, 2008 by phaneuf

Earlier this summer, I wrote a blog on the green burial movement (or lack thereof) in New Hampshire. While Phaneuf Funeral Homes has offered a very low cost green burial package for some time, we have had no takers. Why not? Well until now, there were no true green burials cemetery sites in New Hampshire. Nearly every cemetery requires some sort of outer burial container to encase the casket. All cemeteries maintain their properties (or try to) by cutting the grass, filling in ground indentations and trimming trees and shrubbery. But in September, the trustees of Richmond Cemetery, located in Richmond, NH, a small town tucked away in the southwest corner of the state, opened a green burial section in its cemetery. The cemetery trustees allocated up to 100 grave spaces for green burials. You need not be a resident of Richmond to purchase a cemetery lot. But embalming the body is not allowed as is the use of a casket with metal. And no vaults or headstones are permitted. Graves may be marked only by using indigenous field stone. To maintain the back to nature theme, the town will only mow the grass a few times a year. While green does not necessarily mean inexpensive, this cemetery is very good news for New Hampshire residents who now have a true green alternative.

For more information about the Richmond cemetery, pricing and making arrangements for a green burial, please call me at the funeral home. And for anyone interested in learning more about green burial and other eco-friendly funeral alternatives, Phaneuf will be hosting a free green burial seminar this spring (around Arbor Day) entitled “Dying to be Green”. If you would like more informaton about the seminar or would like to reserve a spot, please sign up for our monthly e-newsletter on our website.

Green Burials

Posted on June 26, 2008 by phaneuf

I would like to continue my eco-friendly burial and cremation theme from a few weeks ago and discuss green burials. We seem to get a few calls every month from people asking if we offer green burials.

What is a green burial? According to the green burial organization (www.greenburial.org), it is a simple and natural process. No metal caskets, no embalming and no cemetery vaults. The body is placed in a biodegradable casket or even a shroud or blanket and then buried in a natural site approved for green burial. Most green cemeteries in the US are in a wooded area and do not allows monuments or markers. While there are a few green burial cemeteries in this country, they are sparsely dispersed. There are some in California (what a surprize), one in New York, a couple down South and another in Texas. There is no doubt that more green cemeteries will be opening up in the future.

People have asked me why there are no green burial cemeteries in New Hampshire or for that matter anywhere in New England. While the “back to nature” appeal of green cemeteries seems to be gaining traction in many parts of the country, New Hampshire, with its 55% cremation rate, does not seem to be following suit.

For many people, the green alternative is a way people can save money and also be environmentally conscience. A green burial avoids many of the traditional funeral trappings and can save several thousands of dollars. However, when you factor in the cost of getting the deceased to the green cemetery, filing the necessary paperwork and paying the cemetery their fees, a green burial will easily exceed $2,000 and probably top $3,000. For about half of that, the family can select a simple cremation. And by keeping the cremated remains at home, scattering them at sea or burying them above a family member or friend in an existing casket, they are saving land.

So, when someone now asks me if we offer green burials, I say that we offer green alternatives to traditional funerals and it’s called cremation.