Is Cremation a Green Alternative to a Casketed Cemetery Burial?

In the last decade cremation has continued to grow in its appeal to families in America.  The percentage of deaths in the U.S. where families have chosen cremation has grown from less than 4% in 1960 to more than 40% annually.  With growing interest in sustainability, many marketers have touted cremation as a green alternative to a casketed burial in a cemetery.  Let us examine cremation with carbon life cycle assessment and our definition of Green as it applies to death care to also include the political and economic factors in promoting a healthy environment for all living things.

Consider a typical cremation that includes a wooden cremation container and human remains.  Interestingly, a 2011 Netherlands study revealed that cremation with wooden caskets result in less fossil-fuel used during incineration.  The wood serves as a renewable fuel source--thus the more wood used in the cremation container, the less fuel required during incineration.  The fossil-fuel powered cremation process takes 2-3 hours for the stages of warm-up and incineration where temperatures reach 1800 degrees Fahrenheit.  An Australian study determined the combined release of CO2 from burning the fossil fuel, cremation container, and human remains is 350 lbs CO2.  Other sources suggest the carbon impact of incineration is closer to 600 lbs CO2.  The Australian study at 350 lbs CO2 compares favorably to the impact of an imported steel casket at 2000 lbs CO2.  However, cremation is 7 times greater than the impact of a green casket made locally from sustainable materials at 50 lbs CO2.  

The toxicity of cremation is harder to quantify than the carbon impact.  Cremation generates emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, mercury, hydrogen fluoride (HF), hydrogen chloride (HCl), NMVOCs, and other heavy metals, in addition to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP).   For a human body that contains metal implants or dental fillings, the impact of incineration releases harmful dioxins and mercury--there is an ongoing debate on how to address mercury poisoning from cremation which the United States EPA believes is the 3rd largest contributor of air-born mercury contamination.  The United Nations has estimated that 0.2% of the global emission of dioxins and furans are from cremation.  While embalming is not required for direct cremation, circumstances that include a viewing or service prior to cremation often include embalming.  The toxic gases released by cremating an embalmed body are cause for further controversy over the health and environmental impacts of cremation.

One green argument in favor of cremation invokes the social, political, and economic factors of land use.  Studies in Australia and the Netherlands concluded that the carbon impact of cemetery maintenance alone could account for as much as 30 lbs CO2 per grave site every year.  Some believe that a casketed burial in a cemetery occupies precious land space that could serve other useful purposes.  The Netherlands study points out that land competition is a contributing factor for cremation if we consider the land use involved in producing the particleboard, wood, and cotton used in cremation containers.  Add to this the land use required to extract, refine, store, and distribute fossil fuels.  We should also consider that a large contributor to the growing popularity of cremation since the 1960s has to do with the acceptance of cremation by the Catholic Church.  The Catholic Church maintains that cremated remains must be entombed in an appropriate container in a cemetery, mausoleum, or columbarium--all of which occupy land space.  From a full-story perspective on land use by itself, cremation and cemetery burial might be comparable in environmental, political, and economic factors when it comes to promoting a healthy environment for all living things. 

I offer another consideration on the subject land competition when comparing cemetery burials with cremation.  America's cemeteries serve our cities, villages, and towns as green space.  Some cemeteries serve their communities in the same way that a park does by offering a safe and quiet place for a walk or exercise.  Cemeteries provide wildlife habitat for birds, butterflies, and squirrels as well as storm water run-off control.  More recently, America's growing number of conservation cemeteries for natural burials both preserve and protect lands for public enjoyment and for natural wildlife habitat.  Families concerned about land competition may be interested in options for nearby conservation cemeteries where funds raised through the sale of burial plots serve to maintain and protect the land for conservation, wildlife, and recreational purposes.

Every individual should have the liberty to make their own choices when it comes to end-of-life care.  An individual's choice is personal.  What should be important to those of us in the death care industry is that an individual's choice be an informed one.  We fail to serve our families if we are complacent in accepting an individual's decision without understanding the motivation or base values behind that decision.  That is not to say we should question an individual's values, but rather inform with facts so that our families can make informed decisions in accordance with their individual values.  After all, isn't it our duty to inform our families without questioning their values or judging their wishes? 

Could rental caskets be the next trend in green funerals?

Rental caskets with replacement insert and liner are not new to the funeral industry.  Rental caskets first emerged as an option for cremation families to conduct a funeral service prior to cremation.  Fees charged to families for casket rental services generally range from $350 to $1000.  With growing interest in cremation as an alternative to cemetery burial, the rental casket has gained some popularity in the last five years.  As "green" as it may seem, the idea of using a rental casket for a green funeral is not a common option presented to families curious about green or natural burial alternatives.  And yet, the rental casket might just be the perfect choice for families who value the environment but do not wish to make a bold statement with something as different as a natural burial shroud or simple pine box.  

From a sustainability perspective, rental caskets could be a very attractive option for families seeking options to minimize impact on the environment.  Our opportunity in funeral service is to suggest a rental casket to families interested in reducing environmental impact.  There's no reason a funeral service with a rental casket could not be followed by direct burial with a burial shroud in a natural burial cemetery.  For conventional cemeteries that require a burial vault, remains could be interred with a burial shroud or the same type of cardboard box container used in cremations.

It is difficult to write this column without a shameless reference to the pun, "thinking outside the box."  True or not, our funeral service industry has a reputation in the media for being resistant to change and slow to adopt new ideas.  Compounded by the fact that we live in a time in our Western culture where people generally avoid talking about death and death care, it is ever more important that we think outside the box and be prepared to talk about different options with our families as they explore sustainable alternatives in death care.

In preparing to talk to families about green funerals, I offer the following five talking points.  "Green" has many meanings to different people so it helps to hone in on specific perspectives to better understand the values and priorities of your families.  These five talking points include (1) biodegradability, (2) toxicity, (3) sustainability, (4) carbon footprint, and (5) local sourcing.  Each of these talking points has many aspects, facts, and figures and are all interrelated.  There are others, but these five tend to be the most common and are easily understood in the context of death care choices.

If biodegradability is important, as would be the case with a conservation cemetery, then it is important that the casket rental insert that is to be interred be made from biodegradable materials such as cotton and paper whereas synthetics like polyester and sateen be avoided.  Steel staples and toxic adhesives may also need to be avoided for burial in a conservation cemetery like the Penn Forest Natural Burial Park in Verona, PA. 

A funeral service with a handsome locally-made rental casket followed by either cremation or a cemetery burial (with or without vault) complemented with a memorial tree-planting ceremony at someone's home or in a city park could be a relatively green funeral.  A single hardwood memorial tree can offset the carbon impact of the cremation or burial vault after 10-15 years--and if that tree lives on to 80-100 years the tree continues to sequester carbon every day.

For a rental casket that is used over and over again, the biodegradability of the casket is no longer relevant.  The carbon footprint and toxicity of the materials and methods of construction may still be important but certainly less relevant than for a casket that is used once and is interred in the earth.

A family primarily concerned about sustainability from a perspective of conservation of natural resources and limiting the use of non-renewable resources might best be served by a funeral service with a rental casket and cremation complemented with an offset activity to plant a few hundred trees.  The Arbor Day Foundation offers a "Trees in Memory" service (www.arborday.org) that will plant one tree in a national forest for every dollar donated.  We might suggest the family request that all memorial donations go toward planting trees.

The rental casket combined with alternatives with which we are already familiar could be the beginnings of an exemplary "green" funeral service offering for most firms.  Sustainability and being "green" isn't only about the casket, or the cemetery, or embalming.  Try to keep the five talking points close at hand to help uncover the values upon which your families will make choices.  These talking points might invite more questions than provide answers, but these are the conversations upon which we build everlasting trust in personal relationships.  And that's good business.

Green Day - What are People Saying About Sustainability in Death Care?

We were invited to the Isthmus Green Day in Madison, Wisconsin last month to exhibit our sustainable and environmentally friendly caskets.  The Isthmus Green Day is a one-day "sustainability celebration" and expo organized by the Isthmus Newspaper.    What would people think?  Would people be interested in talking about death care at a sustainable living celebration?  What types of questions would we be asked?  We didn't know what to expect but made arrangements for a double-booth to fit four different casket models and four staff.  To our surprise, our caskets were the talk of the show and for more than eight hours starting at 9:00AM that Saturday, the four of us barely had a moment to catch our breath.  An estimated 3000 people attended the expo and we handed out more than 750 brochures.  Here's what people are saying (and asking) about sustainability in death care.

Exhibiting at Green Day, April 2013

Let's talk about cremation.  It isn't often I find myself in a setting where people are openly and genuinely interested in talking about the merits of cremation from an environmental conservation point of view.  After my third conversation, I kept tally marks on a card in my pocket.  By the end of the day just more than 20 individuals or couples had thanked me for speaking with them and affirmed they would be changing their plans from cremation to some type of green or natural burial.  Three key topics emerged in our conversations when comparing cremation and burial in order of interest (1) carbon impact, (2) toxicity and pollution, and (3) land use.  On carbon impact, some people were not at all surprised after considering for a moment the carbon impact of a cremation--a fossil-fueled fire reaching 1800 degrees F for 2-3 hours--ranges from 300 to 600 lbs of CO2.  Compared to the carbon footprint of a conventional steel casket at roughly 2000 lbs of CO2, cremation is a better choice.  However, compared to a sustainable "green" casket at 50 to 150 lbs. of CO2, the environmentally friendly casket is clearly a better choice.  While carbon impact was of significance to most of our audience, some were most moved by thoughts of toxic pollution.  Depending on the study you trust, cremation accounts for 10% to 30% of global Mercury contamination of our environment.  People who care about pollution very quickly agreed to reconsider a natural burial.  A select few individuals were primarily considering land use in their funeral plans based on previous awareness of new conservation cemeteries opening up on the area including Natural Path Sanctuary in Verona, WI.

Let's talk about caskets.  We had four caskets illustrating a range of materials, pricing, and finishes.  To our surprise, the simple, rectangular and boxy "Simple Pine Box" stole the show!  Our experience with Green Day attendees is consistent with our funeral home partners.  While living people choose a simple pine box for themselves, they will not choose the same simple pine box for a loved one who did not previously express their wishes for a simple casket.  There was some curious interest in our Orthodox caskets that contain no metal nails, screws, or hinges, but most attendees had no issue being buried with a handful of fasteners and some metal hinges.  We learned that toxicity and our choices in wood finishes were very important for this audience.  Caskets with finishes free of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) were preferred over those with even low VOCs.  As for interiors, our audience expressed interest in biodegradable natural fiber interiors.  People genuinely recognized that while they could easily imagine selecting a very simple interior for themselves, many recalled a recent funeral experience where they would have had difficulty making the same decision for a loved one.

Let's talk about funeral homes.  There was no confusion whatsoever when people asked about price and we explained prices were set by funeral homes and that we distributed our caskets through funeral homes exclusively.  It was not a leap to recognize us as a casket manufacturer and not a casket retailer--not unlike the Toyota exhibit 15 feet from ours.  We offered ballpark price ranges that funeral homes might charge and that satisfied their questions when comparing the different models.  We shared contact information and literature for our funeral home partners in the Madison area.  We also found it encouraging the number of people who had already made or were making their funeral arrangements in advance.  It seems clear to me that for individuals who care about the environment, they do not want to leave their funeral choices up to their survivors--advance planning was a priority.  Several individuals commented how they wished their funeral director had more information on sustainability, environmental impact, and toxicity of their choices including cremation, embalming, concrete vaults, and casket options.

Overall, I would say our participation in Green Day was a success and full of pleasant surprises.  People are genuinely interested in talking about sustainability in death care at an event like this.  I would encourage others vendors in the death care industry to seize the opportunity to participate in local "sustainable living" events.  People were more interested than even I would have expected before attending Isthmus Green Day.