The Centre for Natural Burial

by Patricia Faulhaber

Environmentally friendly funerals becoming a national movement. Greening up in life can follow one in the final rite of passage.

Natural funerals are making a comeback. Eco-friendly, natural, and home-based funerals are becoming more and more available in many cities and states. So those who are socially and environmentally responsible in life can continue to be so through their rite of passage.
Green Funerals

According to Planet Green, more than 50 million people pass away each year worldwide, using 50 million trees and releasing 8 million tons of carbon dioxide. Construction of burial vaults in the U.S. uses 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete. Building caskets uses over 90 thousand tons of steel per year. Plus, over 800 thousand gallons of embalming fluid is used.

Green, natural, or home-based funerals are fast becoming a trend across the world. Funerals that include any one or more of the following is a green funeral:

Small gatherings in a natural setting.
Funeral services using only recycled paper products, locally grown organic flowers, or organic foods.
No embalming or embalming with formaldehyde-free products
Use of biodegradable clothing on the deceased.
Use of a shroud or biodegradable, nontoxic caskets made with sustainable materials.
No concrete vault.
Shallower and hand-dug graves.
Flat rocks, plants, or trees used for grave markers.
Cost savings. Green funerals on the average cost $2300 versus $6500 for traditional funerals.
Deceased’s body is prepared for burial at home by the family.

Green Funeral Movement

“Holding a home or natural funeral has become an actual movement not just a trend,” said Jerrigrace Lyons, founder and director of Final Passages in Sebastopol, California.

Final Passages offers educational consulting and workshops for personal and legal rights for natural funerals including home-based funerals and final disposition. They have helped or consulted with families on over 300 funerals.

Natural, green, and home-based funerals were common as few as 150 years ago before the funeral home industry began to grow. The resurgence of natural burials began in the United States ten years ago.

Today there are many practitioners to help with natural or green funerals such as The Natural Burial Company in Oregon, Green Funerals in Vermont, Nature’s Caskets in Colorado, and Forever Fernwood in California just to list a few.
Green Funeral Workshops

All but seven states in the U.S. allow green or natural funerals. Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Maine, New York, and Utah all require that a funeral home be involved with a loved one’s funeral preparations.

Final Passages holds workshops to teach people how to plan and hold a home funeral and all of the legal rights involved. They have also sold thousands of how-to booklets over the years.

There is also a lot of online information available and many books have recently been published for people to learn more about the concept, the laws and rights, and other particulars surrounding green funerals.

According to Lyons, it’s not difficult to do a home funeral and doing a funeral this way can be a much more personal experience for family and friends.
Getting Started with Green Funerals

The unofficial green funeral movement is finding its way into many lives and deaths. If a green, natural, or home funeral sounds desirable, take a workshop, read a few books and articles, and do lots of pre-planning to help ensure a proper funeral gets planned, one that will complete the circle of life and provide the closure that those left behind need.

Read more at Suite101: Green Funerals: Natural and Home-Based Viewings Make a Comeback http://www.suite101.com/content/green-in-life-green-in-death-a178493#ixzz1JKaypNnO