Burial and cremation are widely popular among cultures and religions. They have existed through generations causing irreparable harm to the environment.
Sustainable ways to go are becoming more popular and families are taking eco-friendly alternatives to lay loved ones to rest. Not everyone is familiar with these eco-burial methods as traditional burial and cremation is still widely used.
According to Northwoods Casket Company, traditional burial and cremation are negatively impacting the environment. An estimated 77,000 trees, 100,000 tons of steel and over 4 million gallons of embalming fluid are used for burial every year.1 Cremation may seem like a more eco-friendly option but the fossil fuel-driven final decomposition method uses up to 30 gallons (113.5 litres) of fuel just to cremate a corpse.
Neither of these methods is environmentally friendly, so it’s important to make eco-friendly choices that benefit the environment.
What Is an Eco-Burial?
An eco-burial is a sustainable option to traditional burial and cremation. It’s an eco-friendly method for one to be buried at the end of their life.
Eco-burial is fast becoming more popular in the past few years. It aims towards reducing global carbon emissions and conserving resources. Eco-burial is less toxic compared to embalming fluids used to preserve a corpse before burial.
If someone in your family requests an eco-burial, we have listed environmentally friendly alternatives for them to go.
Learn more: Which Is More Eco-Friendly, Burial or Cremation?
Why Choose Eco-Friendly Burial Alternatives
Not choosing an eco-friendly way to be buried has environmental consequences. Crematoriums are burning fossil fuels which directly impacts the environment.
According to the National Funeral Directors Association, cremations surpassed burials as the most popular end-of-lie-option in the United States within four years.2
The National Funeral Directors Association also reported an increase in the number of crematories in the United States. They reported an increase of 8.9% within two years.
An estimated one-third of American funeral homes operate their crematories and there is also another 11% planning to start their crematories in the coming years.
The swelling number of crematories is raising concern regarding what happens to cremated ashes. According to a 2019 report, an estimated 42% of cremated remains are sent back to families, 16% are scattered in different locations, 35% are buried at the cemetery, and 8.1% are kept in a columbarium.
Cremation
Crematories are a major contributor to global carbon emissions. They have been identified as sources of different environmental pollutants.3
According to a review, crematorium generates small particles, traces of gasses (sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxide, and carbon monoxide” and toxic organic volatiles.4
Traditional burial and cremation can cause several environmental problems and they remain methods that threaten human health.
Burial
The preservation process of corpses is harmful to the environment. It uses toxic chemicals like formaldehyde, phenol, menthol, and glycerine to embalm a corpse.
According to the National Library of Medicine, burial caskets with arsenic-treated wood are harmful to the environment and human health.5
Placing a casket made from wood like this can cause arsenic to leach into water. This can disrupt the food chain as well as affect marine life.
Environmental Impact of Burial and Cremation
Traditional burial remains a widely used method for different cultures and religions. It’s not a sustainable method for laying your loved ones to rest.
From the process of preserving the corpse to burying or entombing, conventional burials are a method that harms the environment.
First, embalming with toxic chemicals slows the decomposing process before the funeral service. Toxic chemicals are used to preserve the body before they are buried usually six feet under the earth.
The toxic embalming chemicals can leach into groundwater, affecting marine life. The casket holding the dead body is made from precious wood and metal.
Cemeteries are using millions of tons of concrete to build vaults and graves. In the United States alone, over a million tons of concrete is used every year for traditional burial. Cemeteries are also reducing available liveable spaces in urban areas.
Learn more: Most Eco-Friendly Ways to Travel
Impact of Cemetery Waste
Cemetery waste includes wood composites, chemicals, human remains, and built vaults.
These materials buried under the earth will break down over time and will likely leach into the soil and groundwater. Common changes in soil composition occur as a result of chemical and mineral contamination.
Impacts of Crematoriums
The crematorium is burning fossil fuel and using high energy to cremate dead bodies. The burning of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases like carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulphur oxides.
High Energy Usage
Crematoriums burn dead bodies at high temperatures—between 1,200 to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (650 to 1,100 degrees Celsius).
It takes an average of two hours to cremate a dead body. Maintaining this level of heat for two hours requires lots of energy.
Air Pollution
Crematoriums mainly use natural gas as their energy source. Burning a corpse for two hours or more leaves a huge carbon footprint. Burning a dead body releases the same amount of carbon dioxide as a car that has travelled for 609 miles.
Eco-Friendly Ways to be Buried
Let’s talk about alternative burying methods that are more sustainable than conventional burial or cremation.
Aquamation or Water Cremation
Aquamation or water cremation is a sustainable way to lay someone to rest at the end of their life. Also known as resomation or alkaline hydrolysis, this method uses water to transform a corpse into skeletal remains.6
Aquamation involves using a solution of water and potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide. The body is then placed in a steel vessel containing the water and the alkaline solution. The water and alkaline solution is then heated to a temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit (149 degrees Celsius).
The aquamation process returns the human flesh to its chemical component, leaving only bones that can be crushed or dried. The crushed or dried bones are then given to the deceased’s family.
A few years ago, Nobel Prize winner and Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu was cremated through alkaline hydrolysis. The ashes of the late South African Anglican cleric were buried at St. George’s Cathedral in his home country.7
Mushroom Burial Suit
This is one of the eco-friendly ways to be buried in this 21st century. The mushroom burial suit is an invention of Jae Rhim Lee. Known as the Infinity Burial Suit by the manufacturer Coeio, the mushroom burial suit is a biodegradable burial shroud made of mushroom spores.8
The spores are environmentally designed to decompose bodies while filtering toxins that may contaminate the soil and surrounding plant life.
Also, a biodegradable casket can be used alongside the mushroom suit. However, this combination is not necessarily needed because biodegradable caskets can help break down the fibres and shorten the decomposition time.
American actor Like Perry was buried in a mushroom burial suit in 2029.
Learn more: 10 Ways to Adopt a Zero-Waste Lifestyle
Tree Pod Burials
Using burial pods to lay loved ones to rest is dubbed “life never stops”. In recent times, this eco-friendly burying method has gained popularity.
Tree pod burials involve wrapping human remains in organic fibre pods. The organic fibre pod is then placed in a biodegradable polymer urn.
After the body is buried, the decomposing process starts with the body and pod. This releases microbes and nutrients into the soil to grow a plant or tree.
The family of the deceased can decide if they want to plant a tree above the burial pod or they can allow the body to compost and then collect it to grow plants or flowers in their garden.
Body pods and cremation pods are the two types of burial pods. The former is the most discussed pod but is still under development at Capsula Mundi.9 On the other hand, cremation pods are readily available alternatives in the market.
Human Composting
Human composting or Natural Organic Reduction is a new and eco-friendly way to be buried.
Human composting is the process of transforming human remains into rich soil. It’s a faster decomposition method that completes the transformation of human remains into rich soil in 30 to 45 days.
The Natural Organic Reduction process takes dead bodies wrapped in biodegradable cloth before placing them into a vessel. The body is surrounded by a blanket and a bed of organic matter.
The temperature inside the vessel will rise during the process. This creates the perfect environment for microbes to transform the body into rich soil. After the body is fully decomposed, the bones and teeth left are crushed and sent to the soil.
Learn more: Are Micro Homes Eco-Friendly?
Biodegradable Urns
Cremation may be the option that your loved one prefers but what do you do with their ashes after cremation?
Instead of scattering ashes at sea or burying them in your backyard, you can use biodegradable urns to preserve them. It’s an eco-friendly alternative, and they are designed to decompose if you choose to bury them under the earth to grow a new tree.
Alternative Transportation
During a funeral service, family and friends from afar will come to pay their last respects. Now, you should choose a burial site that is not too far for mourners to travel to.
Your transportation option can also impact the environment. Instead of using petrol or diesel-powered vehicles to carry the remains of your loved ones, go for more eco-friendly options like casket chariot.
Not using petrol or diesel-powered vehicles to travel to a funeral service reduces global carbon emissions. If you are left with the option of only driving a petrol vehicle, try taking more people along with you instead of travelling alone.
Conclusion
Not choosing an eco-friendly way to be buried has its environmental consequences. Traditional burial may be a widely used burying method but it negatively impacts the environment.
Crematoriums are burning fossil fuels which also directly impacts the environment. Burning a dead body releases the same amount of carbon dioxide as a car that has travelled for 609 miles.
Sources
- Northwoods Casket Company: The American Way of Death and Sustainability: 10 Troubling Facts ↩︎
- The National Funeral Directors Association: “Cremation is Here to Stay: Aging Baby Boomers Proved Catalyst in Shift Beyond Traditional Burial.” NFDA News Releases 2019. ↩︎
- Montse Mari & José L. Domingo: “Toxic emissions from crematories: A review.” 2010. ↩︎
- Dison S. P. Franco et al: “The environmental pollution caused by cemeteries and cremations: A review.” 2022. ↩︎
- National Library of Medicine: “The Impact on Environmental Health from Cemetery Waste in Middle Tennessee.” 2024. ↩︎
- EuroNews: “What is water cremation? The UK now offers eco-friendly burial alternatives.” ↩︎
- Wshington Post: What is aquamation, the burial practice Desmond Tutu requested instead of greenhouse gas-emitting cremation? ↩︎
- Eirene Cremations: How the Mushroom Burial Suit Works and What Does it Cost ↩︎
- Mutual Choice: Tree Pod Burial: How It Works + Costs ↩︎