Green burial practices help reduce death’s environmental impacts

If you think that death will free the world with one less carbon dioxide emitter, think again. Modern cremation, embalming and burial practices actually make death not that ecofriendly.

Solutions containing the carcinogenic formaldehyde are used for embalming, while cremation has been questioned for its releasing of greenhouse gases, mercury and pollutants. As for traditional burial, there have been criticisms on its use of excess space, and the coffins used take years to disintegrate and contain contaminants.

Thus, the memorial industry has taken the green path in order to eliminate these concerns. Dignity Memorial, one of North America’s largest networks of funeral and memorial service providers, enlisted two of its Colorado locations for certification by the Green Burial Council, which were accredited.

Olinger Chapel Hill Mortuary and Cemetery in Littleton and Crist Mortuary and Crematory in Boulder will now offer green services and products to help ease problems on carbon emissions, toxification and waste associated with death care.

As Green Burial Council members, both facilities will use biodegradable caskets and alternative containers made from plant-derived materials. They are also prohibited from using acrylics, plastics, fiberglass and similar synthetic polymeric materials even on their adhesives.

Both facilities also partnered with the nonprofit land conservation organization Colorado Open Lands to offer customers the opportunity to establish honorariums for family and friends to donate on behalf of their departed loved ones.

Through a collaboration with Arbor Day Foundation, Olinger Chapel Hill and Crist will provide families with the option to have about one acre of trees planted and registered under their name in a national forest. Meanwhile, families can also participate in the Sea Oats community reef, a system of environmentally safe concrete domes that provides new marine habitats.

"Individuals who love nature and respect the environment want to honor those values at the end of their lives. We want to provide our customers with earth-friendly products, services and tributes that reflect that commitment," said Tom Hendler, market managing director of Dignity Memorial.

Based in New Mexico, the Green Burial Council is the first in the world to set eco-certification standards for burial grounds, funeral homes, products and cremation disposition programs.