The Centre for Natural Burial

By Kris Scheuer

Many of us are trying to reduce our environmental impact while here on earth, but how about in our final act when we leave this planet?

Decisions around our own mortality are not easy to contemplate. However, for the green conscious the idea of departing in an eco-friendly way is catching on.

Green funerals involve reducing the amount of toxins released into the soil, water and air through a traditional burial or cremation. It can also involve giving back to Mother Nature by planting trees or donating to an earth-conscious company in memory of a loved one.

As with any earth-friendly gathering, people are also looking at using recycled paper invitations and local, organic food and flowers at ceremonies, and carpooling from the funeral parlour to the burial site.

Environmentalist Franz Hartmann says he’d be upset if his death involved any “unnecessary environmental damage”, but he is the careful not to prescribe a one-solution-fits-all remedy for people planning a green funeral.

People can still carry out their cultural traditions around death, he says, but can look for ways to reduce their environmental impact wherever possible.

There is no way around the fact government regulations must be followed.

According to the Ontario Board of Funeral Services, provincial law doesn’t require a body be embalmed except under certain circumstances and while a casket is not mandatory, a burial container is.

A combustible, rigid container is also a must for cremation services.

Paul Newbigging has been in the funeral business for 20 years, following in the footsteps of his father, who started the Murray E. Newbigging Funeral Home in 1950.

He says “green is on top of mind for many people and funeral directors.”

People can be buried in a container as simple as structured cardboard or a pine box rather than a casket, says Newbigging, in an interview from his Mount Pleasant Rd. funeral home.

These options will decompose quicker when placed in the ground than a traditional casket. As well, a fancier casket can be rented for ceremonies while a plainer one used for burial.

You can purchase an environmentally-friendly casket from any funeral parlour in Ontario, says Caley Ferguson, VP of Northern Casket.

His company makes a casket with wooden hinges rather than metal, containing no dyes and using water-soluble, biodegradable glue. The inside is lined with non-dyed cotton.

The company will be launching an environmental urn this May.

With cremation the decomposition of the body is immediate, however airborne chemicals are emitted in this process and are caught by scrubbers on the chimneys, according to Newbigging.

One option not yet legal in Ontario is natural burial with no container, where the body is shrouded and placed in the ground with a tree or shrub to mark the grave.

Michael de Pencier is a director with the Natural Burial Association, which is looking at purchasing a site around the GTA for this type of system.

The process would involve converting old farmlands into meadows or forests where people could be buried, if the provincial and municipal governments change the zoning.

“We are spending so much on a mahogany box,” he says. “It’s a strain on the environment, chopping down rare trees.

“We’re importing expensive marble and using embalming using formaldehyde — that’s toxic to the environment. Let’s skip all that and go straight to ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

For people wanting to go green even in death, it’s worth a conversation with loved ones and a funeral director on how to leave a small footprint behind.