Many people are passionate about saving the environment and choose to live a green lifestyle to help protect the Earth. When people who live green lives pass away, there are special ways to have a green burial and memorial. This will help loved ones to honor an environmentally aware person while respecting the green lifestyle they lived.
There are more than 1 million tons of steel caskets buried each year by Americans, and these caskets are not biodegradable. There are also and estimated 22,500 cemeteries throughout the U.S. that use a combined 827,060 gallons of embalming fluid each year. Green burials, natural burials in biodegradable coffins or burial urns, can reduce carbon emissions by 50%, according to the Natural Death Centre.
Here are just a few of the green ways to memorialize a loved one:
Biodegradable Cremation Urns
Biodegradable cremation urns for ashes are made from natural materials, such as paper, wood, natural clay, and water-soluble paints that are non-toxic. These are made to decompose naturally over time when buried.
Scattering Cremation Urns
Scattering Urns are environmentally friendly ash containers that are designed to dissolve quickly when place in a body of water. They are created using natural materials, and are great to memorialize people who opt to be scattered in a lake, ocean, or river.
Green Coffins
There are many options when it come to green coffins, but all will leave a very small carbon footprint. There are cardboard coffins, woven and wicker coffins, and coffins that degrade and plant a tree in the spot of burial. This is a great option for a non cremation way to bury your loved one and still honor their green lifestyle..
Although your loved one has passed, their green lifestyle should be remembered in a way that respects their choices to protect the Earth. Whether you choose a biodegradable burial urn, a scattering cremation urn, or a green coffin, you will be representing their life in a way that has have great meaning to their green lifestyle.