If you already know where you are going to be buried, next to mom and dad or in the family cemetery, here are some things that can help you make sustainable choices. If you're someone looking for a green burial ground to aid in conservation efforts you might be hard-pressed at this time, depending on where you live. However, everyone is free to choose natural burial, null of toxins and excessive consumption. If you choose cremation, the below material is also applicable to some of your decisions. Be sure to make your choices known to your family. You can fill out a Decedent Directive under our "Publication" page.

Storage

Say No to Embalming

Why: No laws require embalming. Embalming fluid is carcinogenic, which exposes embalmers to dangerous health hazards. Additionally, four gallons of embalming fluid are used to embalm, thus interring those chemicals in the earth and exposing both water and future generations to its dangers.

Say Yes to Refrigeration or dry-ice

Why: If you choose to be stored in a funeral home you will be refrigerated, regardless. Alternatively, you can choose to be refrigerated until the funeral services and interment. Similarly, you can choose to remain at home and be cooled with dry-ice to slow decomposition (for a time of 3-4 days), allowing family and friends to visit and say goodbye to you for several days.

Casket

Think Simple

Why: Metal and precious woods are currently used and exploited in casket production. Choose a pine or another wooden box that was harvested from a sustainable forest. You can also choose a cardboard box, like those used in cremation, and drape it in your favorite linens or a quilt made by family and friends.

Care

Think Lovingly

Why: Like the thousands of generations that have come before us, caring for our dead is a healing and spiritual process that we are called to do. In 1960 no one thought they could care for their dying at home, believing it would be too "hard" on them. Now, thousands of families care for their dying at home every year and are thankful that they had. It is legal to care for the dead at home, and it will be an act of love and experience like you have never had before. For more information on legalities, please visit www.funerals.org/caring.htm or contact the Institute.

Compensation

Think Fair Wages

Why: Funeral directors, on average, have a take home pay of 4-5% per funeral. You may pay $10,000 for a funeral, but when all costs and overhead are taken into account, the funeral director makes approximately $400 (excluding the conglomerates and those in high-income neighborhoods). Don't buy the expensive casket and all that wasteful merchandise, instead pay the funeral director a fair wage and think of alternatives to doormen during the wake and Cadillac hearses (every funeral director owns a mini-van). Bringing your dead home decreases the funeral director's costs and allows him/her to receive better wages (this can be a bartering tool for you to have the funeral you desire).  

Headstone

Think Simple

Why: A $5K headstone isn't needed to mark your grave. If a family already owns a headstone then you don't have to worry about costs. Otherwise, a simple headstone without all the lavishness will suffice. 

Vault

Think Bottomless (if you're required to use a vault)

Why: There are no laws requiring you to be buried in a vault. However, every cemetery has its own rules. If you purchased your plot pre-need, chances are your cemetery will require a vault (ask if they make exceptions). This is because cemeteries have such a high density of occupants that vaults are needed to support the soil so that the humus layer does not erode or collapse. By increasing density, cemeteries are able to increase their profit. If you have not purchased a plot, you can tell a cemetery you'll go elsewhere if they don't accommodate you. If you choose a green cemetery these vaults will not be permitted. 

*Jewish and Muslim persons believe that the body ought to be in the earth, as it was meant to be. Therefore, many cemeteries that cater to these communities allow for bottomless vaults. This will allow you to enter the soil, while meeting the cemetery's policies. Go bottomless.