When someone passes away, the two most common options for dealing with the corpse are traditional casket burials and cremation. Two factors that caused many people to choose cremation for themselves over the traditional casket burial are its affordability and its minimal impact on the environment compared to traditional casket burials. This is due to casket burials being widely known as the less eco-friendly option. This may explain why the National Funeral Directors Association predicts that the cremation rate will increase to 78% compared to 16% for the traditional casket burial by 2040. However, cremation also has its environmental negatives. One of them is that cremation “[releases] hundreds of kilograms of carbon dioxide into the air per body” (1).

Then you may ask: “What is the most effective way of dealing with corpses?” In fact, another method has slowly started to increase in popularity among environmentalists: ‘Green’ burials. ‘Green’ burials are simply the act of disposing of a body using biodegradable containers, instead of using harmful concrete vaults like the traditional casket burial or releasing carbon dioxide during combustion like cremation. Considering these factors, it is fairly obvious that ‘Green’ burials are the best method in dealing with a corpse in an eco-friendly way, although it currently is not a popular choice due to its unfamiliarity. In fact, a survey revealed that most participants “planned on cremation, because they viewed it as the eco-friendliest option” (1). 

Despite the unfamiliarity of ‘Green’ burials, it has slowly been increasing in popularity. Organizations like the Green Burial Council have contributed to this growing trend. Founded in 2005, the organization “[establishes] green burial standards by certifying green burial sites” (1). Currently, the organization has “certified over 200 green burial sites” in North America (1). The effect of this organization is clearly reflected when The National Funeral Directors Association Of The United States reported that “14 percent of Americans over age 40 say they would choose green burial,” and “around 62 percent are open to exploring it” (1). 

Unfortunately, the lack of research surrounding ‘Green’ burials as it is still a relatively new method has to be acknowledged. Therefore, more research should be conducted to further identify the benefits and potential downsides of this method, in order to reduce harmful factors in other burial methods such as carbon dioxide emissions. Nevertheless, we must increase the awareness of ‘Green’ burials, and also consider how we can reduce the harm we inflict on the environment even when we are no longer breathing.

Sources:

1: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/green-burial-environmentalism-cemetery-eco-friendly-death