Additionally, cremation – chosen by approximately 33 percent of the population 3 – has its own ecological concerns (See Part II: Cremations). Not only do natural burials use far fewer resources Resources used for traditional funerals and burials ● Chemicals : More than 830,000 gallons of embalming fluid are used to preserve bodies that are buried in the ground. 4 Embalming fluid is primarily a mix of formaldehyde and ethanol, but many other chemicals and materials are commonly used to prepare the body. ● Wood : More than 30 million board feet of hardwood lumber are used to build approximately 300,000 caskets each year. 5 ● Steel : More than 90,000 tons of steel are used to make more than 800,000 steel caskets each year. 6 ● Concrete : Cement and metal burial vaults, designed to keep the ground from settling as the casket and body decay, require 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete each year. 7 Most traditional cemeteries require the casket to be placed in either a sealed vault made of cement and metal or a bottomless grave liner. 8 In contrast, green or natural cemeteries do not allow vaults or liners, facilitating the body’s decomposition. ● Stone : Thousands of headstones are made from granite and marble, which are quarried using fossil fuels and a fuel- intensive process: Jet burners, heated to 3,000 degrees F, What is a green or natural cemetery? Most green cemeteries don’t look like the traditional cemeteries we find familiar, with green manicured lawns and headstones lined up neatly. Natural cemeteries tend to look more like nature preserves, with trees, grasses, wildflowers and shrubs growing where the seeds fall. There are often walking paths leading visitors to burial areas, with inconspicuous engraved stones marking individual burial sites. While each funeral park has its own set of rules, green cemeteries avoid resource-intensive burials in general. The focus is on simple methods that won’t interfere with the body’s natural decomposition or the intertwined surrounding ecosystems. Some common points are: ● Bodies cannot be preserved with embalming fluids. In some cases, bodies can be held in refrigeration at the hospital or at a funeral home until burial. ● Excavation of the burial site is usually by hand to minimize impacts on the surrounding land and to protect native plant diversity. ● Cement vaults or grave liners are not permitted. Instead, at a green cemetery, the earth is mounded on top of the gravesite and the mound eventually disappears as the earth settles. Native grasses, flowers, trees or shrubs may be planted on the mound to quickly rehabilitate the site. ● Caskets and burial shrouds must be made of biodegradable materials. No metal or elaborate hardwood caskets are allowed. ● Grave markers are simple engraved stones indigenous to the area. Sometimes a native tree or shrub is planted instead. To ensure family members will always be able to find a grave Common terminology The Green Burial Council uses the following definitions and nomenclature, which will be used throughout the course: ● Category 1 : Caskets, urns, shrouds and alternative containers: ○ Basic materials of construction for shells, liners, fillers, hardware, handles and adornments are to be plant- derived or recycled plant-derived materials. Adhesives and finishes and any other products applied to or integrated into the basic materials of construction are to be based on naturally occurring materials and not contain acrylics, plastics, fiberglass and similar synthetic polymeric materials. ○ Materials must not be harvested in a manner that destroys natural habitat. In circumstances where such
so the body can quickly become part of the earth, they also tend to be less expensive than traditional funeral products and services.
are used to remove the rock from the earth. According to the Monument Builders of North America web site: “The jet burner is like a small rocket motor burning fuel oil and oxygen. The flame leaves the burner at about five times the speed of sound and at about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The burner cuts through the granite, forming channels at the ends and back of what will become a block of granite. Holes are then drilled across the bottom to meet the back channel and loaded with black blasting powder. When the explosive detonates, the block is “lifted” or cut free from the surrounding stone. The block, about 4 feet deep, 4 feet high and 8 feet long and weighing as much as 10 tons, is loaded on a truck for the trip to the manufacturing plant.” 9 ● Water : Traditional cemeteries maintain the landscape with gas-powered mowers and synthetic fertilizers and water irrigation systems. Natural cemeteries follow different landscaping strategies, using fewer resources (See Part III). after nature rehabilitates the disturbed soil, burial sites are typically marked on a survey map. Some cemeteries insert metal nails at a site so a metal detector can aid in searching. Others use global positioning systems (GPS) to locate sites. A number of organizations facilitate natural burials. The Green Burial Council (GBC), for example, is a leading independent, tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainable death care and the use of burials as a means of protecting natural areas. Funeral service providers approved by the Green Burial Council agree to the following: 10 ● Itemizing in a general price list eco-friendly service offerings and products, including any green funeral packages. ● Not offering or making any representations regarding any unapproved products (such as caskets, urns, vaults, concrete box/grave liners and embalming fluid) as being eco-friendly or acceptable for green burial. ● Making available or requiring dry ice, conventional ice, refrigeration or nontoxic embalming with GBC-approved chemicals for open casket viewings. ● Accommodating home vigils/viewings and the use of other offsite facilities appropriate for funerals. ● Making at least one employee available to participate in a GBC-approved seminar/webinar (minimum four hours) covering technical, practical and ethical issues associated with eco-friendly funeral service. ● Not requiring any waiver/disclaimer that would have the effect of dissuading a family from choosing eco-friendly/ green service offerings/products. ecological degradation is suspected, a “trust provider” must be retained by the product manufacturer. ○ Products applied to or integrated into the basic materials of construction cannot contain chemical ingredients that are toxic or otherwise classified as hazardous with accompanying mandatory reportable limits of exposure as defined and listed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). An exception is made for generalized nuisance limits for dusts and mists. ○ These products cannot contain chemical ingredients that through their intrinsic course of action evolve or release a chemical ingredient as previously defined. They must contain only chemical ingredients that are fully disclosed
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