3 eco-friendly options for your funeral

Conventional burials and cremations contribute to climate change. If you want your funeral proceedings to match your environmentally conscious lifestyle, here are three green options that might be available to you.

1. Aquamation
This process uses water, sodium, potassium, and heat to dissolve the body’s soft tissues into a sterile, aqueous solution that can be safely returned to the water supply. The remaining bones can then be ground up and placed in an urn. While it’s not yet legal in all places, aquamation (also referred to as alkaline hydrolysis or bio-cremation) is gaining in popularity as an environmentally friendly alternative to burials and cremations.

2. Humusation
Also known as human composting, this technique is similar to traditional burials but without the toxic chemicals and wasteful caskets. Instead, the body is buried among wood chips, alfalfa, and straw rich in microbes that help speed up decomposition. This process takes about a month and yields fertile soil that can be scattered in forests or gardens. For now, this option is only legal in a few select areas.

3. Biodegradable urn
A popular green burial option involves placing the deceased person’s ashes in a decomposable urn. This can be made of sand and gelatine, cornstarch, recycled paper, coconut shells or other organic materials. In some cases, these burial pods can be placed beneath a sapling to help generate new life after death. Keep in mind that while the urn produces little to no pollution, this option still relies on cremation.

Speak with your family or a funeral director in your community about how you would like your remains to be handled after death.