The Eco Way to Go
Green burial lets humans feed the daisies, not just push them up
By Jaye Christensen
Last year 22,500 cemeteries across the United States buried 827,060 gallons of embalming fluid, 104,272 tons of steel, 2,700 tons of copper and bronze, 30-plus million board feet of hardwoods and 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete.
In purely ecological terms, how we bury our dead is unsustainable. But a simpler, more Spartan movement that requires fewer natural resources and causes less pollution is emerging, much of it centered in the Bay Area. It’s an approach to death that will either change the way the modern, corporate and consolidated funeral business conducts itself, or it will compete against the mainstream for the honor of offering us a final resting place.
Standard with most green-leaning cemeteries is that the burials are non-toxic (no embalming fluid) and the bodies are buried in biodegradable pine, papier-mâché or cardboard caskets or even simple cloth shrouds. No marker stone is used so some green cemeteries mark burial locales with GPS coordinates).
As you might guess, without the embalming charges, the fancy finished casket, and no headstone (and maybe no funeral home), green burial is also the low-buck option. “There’s a huge chunk of the population who will pay a little more for green, so it doesn’t have to be cheaper,” says Joe Sehee, founder and executive director of the Green Burial Council (GBC), “but it actually is.’’
Former lay minister and social justice worker in San Francisco Sehee insists, “No one wants to think about being thrown on a slab and pumped full of carcinogens,’’ and he would like to make the practice of embalming (not mandatory in any state) obsolete, along with other wasteful funeral practices. Sehee admits he has a long way to go — the four cemeteries dotted across the US that his nonprofit has designated as officially green “probably don’t do two burials a day between them.’’
Did we mention that this movement is young.
Yet, every week, Sehee says, conventional funeral directors or cemetery operators contact him about going green. A practical man, Sehee realizes that the vast majority of conventional funeral parlors may never do better than offering a simple green option. In contrast, at GBC-certified cemeteries like North Carolina’s Ramsey Creek, the burial ground has the dual purpose of offering a home to the dead and restoring land as a conservation project that provides habitat for native plant and animal species.
California does not yet have any GBC-certified green cemeteries, but Sehee says several are opening this year.
Set on a beautiful 32-acre plot of land in Mill Valley with views of Mt. Tamalpais, Fernwood, which opened in 2004 on the site of a cemetery that dates back to the 1880s, is one local uncertified green cemetery. In addition to sections restricted to no-casket green burials, it offers both standard casket or green burial in the traditional part of the cemetery. Owner Tyler Cassity, who also owns Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, was a consultant to, and said to be the inspiration for, Six Feet Under. He has “undertaken” site upgrades at Fernwood, including planting thousands of native plants.
Cassity hopes to develop other green burial sites soon. “It’s lonely being the only one,’’ he said in an email. Cassity also has plans to open two locations adjacent to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy outside of Los Angeles and is in negotiations to acquire locations in Santa Barbara, Carmel and Palm Springs.
Along with the environmental advantage, many appreciate how green burial surrenders the body to the earth instead of fighting nature, as seems to be the intent of heavy mass marketed caskets, air-tight vaults and the use of embalming fluid. Bottom line: A body will decompose one way or another; either with the aid of aerobic bacteria and other soil organisms in a natural burial, or by anaerobic bacteria when the body is embalmed and sealed in a vault. What’s more, a byproduct of anaerobic bacteria is carbon dioxide, which anecdotally has been known to build up to explosive levels, which raises gruesome possibilities. With green burials, the body is free to decompose naturally — generally a quick process — becoming nutrition for the soil and plants, an attractive idea for those concerned about the environment, and a way to leave a literal “living legacy.’’
Of course some have raised fears about natural burial. For example, that it will contaminate water tables. “Natural” burial is less likely, say biologists and other scientists, to contaminate groundwater than embalmed bodies planted in cemeteries where the soil is soaked in herbicides, pesticides and fertilizer to maintain their sprawling, manicured lawns. And officials from Ramsey Creek say fears that wild animals or dogs will dig up a body where no casket is used are, well, groundless.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency considers formaldehyde and formalin, the main chemicals used in embalming fluid, possible carcinogens, and the European Union (EU) has already agreed to ban its use starting in 2020.
Sehee of the Green Burial Council envisions a time when we can attach decals to our driver’s licenses specifying “No embalming’’ or “Do not turn me over to a funeral director.’’
Jaye Christensen is a Bay Area writer with interest in the environment. She has most recently written arts reviews for Common Ground’s “Art & Soul” section and works on explaining climate change to doubters. Her muse is a Maine Coon cat who helps with the typing.
Six Feet Under... Eco-Style
Six feet under will never be the same if artisans catering to the green burial movement have their way. Whereas once a family’s standard internment choices might include the The Bel-Air Mahagony, The Regency or The Count Dracula (coffins that typically run from $2000 to $10,000), “green death” craftspeople are creating classy, earth-friendly coffins and urns, and many are based here in NorCal.
Five years ago, while Half Moon Bay resident Jane Hillhouse was driving on an English country road on the way to a florist course, out of the blue came the thought: “When I die I want to be buried in a pine box decorated with symbols and events from my life.” Her next thought was her new business: Colorful Coffins… to Die For.
While she dispensed with the “to Die For” part, Colorful Coffins was born and offers an array of biodegradable funereal alternatives. Cardboard coffins that are sturdy enough for both cremation and burials are popular and cheap, running under $40. Most families personalize them with paint, glitter, cutouts and photos from the deceased’s life — often to stunning effect. Diehard hemp fans can choose between her custom-made shrouds or hemp cremation bags. For those who opt for “blowin’ in the wind,” Hillhouse offers gourd ash containers, carved and decorated with natural dyes that can act as receptacles until the scattering or burial. Though far pricier at around $1000, handcrafted willow wicker coffins are coming out this year.
Kate Broderson in Sonoma County started the company A Plain Pine Box five years ago. “So many people eschew the fancy coffins and are thrilled to have an inexpensive alternative that’s beautiful in its simplicity,” Kate says. — Bill Strubbe
Contacts:
• Colorful Coffins — supplier of hemp, cardboard, or willow coffins, hemp shrouds, and gourd and pottery ash containers based in Santa Cruz. 650-726-5255; colorfulcoffins.com
• Memory Markers/Cocoons — custom designed bronzer plaques and urns, based in Santa Rosa. 707-579-1706; memorymarkers-plaques.com
• A Plain Pine Box — custom ordered handcrafted, simple pine box caskets, based in Forestville. 707-578-7709
• Funeria — unique, handcrafted cremation urns, based in Sonoma County. 707-829-1966; funeria.com
