5 Funeral Supplies for Green Burials

The following is a guest post contributed by Mobi Medical Supply:

Green burials are designed to leave a minimal impact on the environment. Traditional burials take up vital space in the ground, and non-decomposing coffins stay there forever. If you want to make sure your burial is a ‘green’ one, you need to utilize eco-friendly mortuary science techniques using the right equipment. Here are five funeral supplies for green burials.

Biodegradable Caskets
Biodegradable caskets will break down over time, which means that the burial will not have a permanent impact on Mother Nature. They still provide protection for the body during the funeral, but eventually they fade away. Wicker is the most common material for this kind of coffin, but there are other alternatives available. If you want to avoid a casket altogether, you could use a cloth shroud instead.

No Embalming
This is not so much a funeral supply but a lack of one. If you want to have a true green burial, you cannot allow the body to go through embalming. This action is required for certain diseases or transporting a body across the state border. Any other time, you can let the body go without being embalmed. You will need to plan the funeral shortly after the passing in this case, and you may want to opt for a closed casket ceremony. Centuries from now though, your loved ones’ body will be part of the earth because of your decisions.

Efficient Lowering Devices
Old casket lowering devices dug into the ground and left heavy imprints around the burial mound. Modern ones do not require that much of a footprint, making the smallest mark on nature possible. When you choose a funeral home to work with, make sure they have modern equipment to handle your needs. If you own a funeral home, you may want to invest in new funeral home supplies to do your part in the green burial procession.

Plants
Why not use the burial plot as a small garden in honor of your loved one? You could plant a tree in place of the tombstone, or you could turn the dirt mound into a large flower pot. Not only does this add beauty to the cemetery, but it also honors the deceased in a special way. Fake flowers and granite don’t have the same impact.

Seeds
If you have a chance to stick around while the casket is being covered, throw some seeds in for grass, flowers, trees, fruit – whatever you think your loved one would like. If your mother loved making apple pie, plant some apple seeds on top of her casket. As these seeds grow, they will bring new life to the plot and restore the memories you have of your friend or family member.

Green burial is not a passing fad. It is a new perspective on traditional burials that could make a huge difference on the environment. With the right funeral home supplies on hand, you could honor someone close to you without making a dint in the ecosystem. Everyone wins!

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What is a Committal Service?

A committal service is one that succeeds a funeral. It is usually a short ritual that involves prayers held at the graveside of a dearly beloved. As the coffin is lowered to the ground, people say their final goodbyes. Regardless of the type of funeral that has pr0ceded, whether it was just a quick cremation ceremony or a traditional one that lasted for hours, a committal service is important because it gives people the opportunity to eulogize the deceased.

The common attendees at a committal service are the immediate family members and closest friends and relatives. At a committal rite, the life of the beloved who passed away is given light. By means of stories, poetry, and songs, a person’s years are commemorated. Some people prefer to incorporate the sharing of thoughts during a church or funeral service with all family and friends around. However, many families also want to have a private event with immediate family and a funeral service and committal service are both performed.

What Happens At A Committal Service?

Just like all rituals for honoring the dead are different, what takes place at a committal is also dependent on the family’s cultural affiliations. What the group practices are what and how the ceremony should proceed. Typically, the brief rite involves opening sentences, prayers, and benediction acts. With a reference to religious customs, the most important individuals to the deceased are given enough time to present something for everybody else to remember. It may be in the form of a spoken testimonial or an announcement of a legacy. Either way, the life of the dead is commemorated without the distraction of the larger crowd at a funeral service.

If you’re planning a committal service, you must remember to keep it brief. Although it depends on you and your family’s preference on how you wish to bid your goodbyes, everybody expects that the committal service will be short. This is because most people also have a funeral service, which is much longer and gives friends and family the opportunity to eulogize the deceased. The point of an internment is for the closest family to gather and have a private service to pay their final respects to loved one.

At the committal service members of the immediate family and sometimes the closest friends of the deceased gather as the closed casket is lowered into the ground. Often a family member will shovel the first dirt onto the casket. Family members and close friends may throw flowers into the grave as it is lowered into the ground.

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Grief Tools: Keeping a Journal

Expressing your grief through healthy outlets such as writing in a journal can give emotions that feel negative a positive, healthy conduit to beginning a healing process. The practice of writing in a journal can also create a personal source of self-empathy – a gift to and from yourself as you walk through your own mine field of grief, writing and then re-reading your self-expressions.

Whether you are a regular writer, or rarely sit down with a pen in hand, you can benefit greatly from the practice of writing in a journal on a regular basis as you cope with the death of a loved one.

1) Pick a Journal

To begin incorporating a journal-writing practice into your healing process, start by choosing a journal that beckons you to open it up and write inside. It can be a simple composition notebook, or an intriguing leather-bound journal from a specialty store.

2) Handwriting or Typing? 

It’s ideal to handwrite as the connection between the hand and the brain is most powerful here. But, if you’re really not comfortable handwriting, there are several online journal websites you can use or, simply use a basic office document on your computer.

3) Where to Start?

You do not have to be a skilled writer to start a journal and experience the benefits of this practice. Using an open free writing process can get the words flowing freely. Write whatever comes to mind. If you don’t know where to start, begin by answering these three questions:

How are you feeling today?

Is there anything that’s bothering you?

What are you grateful for?

4) How Do I Express What I’m Feeling?

This is the place to be completely open and honest. Whatever comes naturally, put it down without censoring it. Your journal is your safe space where you can say the things you may not say out loud to any one else.

If you’re angry, and you feel compelled to curse at your journal, do it. If you’re sad, and you want to scribble long run-on-sentences expressing every ounce of that sorrow, write until your pen runs out of ink, or your arm is tired.

This free write process will hopefully create a channel for you to begin to pour out whatever emotions are stirring within.

5) Incorporating Quiet Reflection

Consider going for a hike or walk in nature, and finding a quiet spot to write under a tree, or beside a stream. Close your eyes, inhale and exhale three long, slow breaths, then try not to think while you sit quietly in total stillness. At first, this may be an uncomfortable feeling, but as you settle into the quiet, you may begin to feel a sense of peace.

From this space of stillness, you can begin to observe what you are feeling. Ask yourself questions: Are you angry? Are you tired? Are you feeling a mixed bag of emotions, or is one predominantly overtaking at the moment?

When you are ready, open your eyes, and try again to write what you noticed and uncovered.  This is especially helpful if you’re still struggling with where to start writing. It should begin a stream of consciousness that opens the doorway to expressing more of what is alive in you.

6) Uncovering the Sources of Your Pain

As you begin noticing and observing your feelings in your quiet reflection and writing,  you can take on a role as an investigator, seeking to uncover the sources of your pain that lie beneath the emotions. Continue asking yourself questions, peeling back the layers of emotion like an onion.

What is it you miss most about your loved one? What were the most sacred gifts they gave you in your time with them? Did they give you a sense of meaning, connection, friendship? How did they provide companionship, security, stability, connection or meaning in your life?

7) Can’t Find the Words?

If at any point, you’re feeling completely stuck and unable to begin writing, try writing about anything around you just to get a flow of words started.

“The dog is at my feet begging for attention right now, I think I need to let him out but I don’t want to. Right now, I just want to sit here and try to write because I…”

Sooner than later, this almost always leads to that steady stream of consciousness.

8) How Long Should I Write For & How Often?

A rule of thumb is to write until you have filled three pages, or until you can’t write anymore. The longer you write, the more you will begin to express.

Make a goal to write daily, or at the least, weekly.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by emotions at any time, force yourself to put pen to paper and write about whatever is going on to give those feelings a healthy outlet.

9) A Dose of Self-Empathy & Compassion

When you’re done writing, take the time to go back and re-read what you wrote. Consider this a dose of much-needed self-empathy as you reflect on the emotions and experiences you wrote about.

Allow yourself to feel compassion for the person who wrote those words, much like you would feel towards a child who had skinned his knee. These words hold the most tender soft spots of your pain – they deserve honor and compassion both.

Re-reading your journal entries may prompt even more “ah-ha” moments as you learn more about the specific sources of your pain. Feel free to continue free-writing where you left off to document new discoveries, thoughts or feelings.

10) A Path to Healing

As you continue this process, you’ll find that after each writing session, you feel a little lighter. It may not change the way you feel, but in giving voice to your feelings, and a dose of self-empathy, you may begin to feel less bogged down by the weight of such intense emotions.

Over time, you can look back at what you’ve written and observe the ebb and flow of emotions vs. healing. You may begin to notice that you’re feeling some of these emotions less intensely, or that you’re more able to work through them you were before.

Consider your journal a best friend and confidant as you work through your grief – a trusted source of compassion, empathy, and expression. Take comfort in the time you give yourself to write freely, and express yourself openly, and honestly. Give yourself the gift of quiet reflection and writing time as often as possible – whenever you are feeling awash in grief, and even when you begin to feel glimmers of joy and gratitude as you work through your healing process.

By Megan Aronson

After a devastating string of twenty deaths in four years, Megan Aronson now uses her personal experiences to empower others to tend to their pain with conscious intention. She enjoys writing and speaking about the unique healing tools she uncovered through her own grief process, offering practical methods for growth and healing after the death of a loved one

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The Most Popular Green Burial Options

Green burial options are becoming more and more accepted today across the United States. A survey was taken in 2008 asking respondents if they would consider a green burial. 43 percent of those asked said that a green burial is something they would consider, a dramatic 21 percent increase from the response generated by the same survey just a year earlier. The growing popularity of green burials can be attributed to a wide range of factors. It could be due to the trending enthusiasm behind becoming more environmentally friendly, or it could just be people are becoming more in tune with the idea of letting nature take its course without any metal coffins or embalming chemicals.

What exactly are green burials?

Green burials, also referred to as natural burials, are environmentally friendly burials which require less energy to create, consumer fewer resources, and are non-toxic. These burials are designed to naturally biodegrade, greatly benefiting the growth of native trees, flowers, greenery, and other wildlife in the area. Experts estimate that over 60,000 tons of steel and 4.8 million gallons of embalming fluid are buried each year with traditional cremation burials. Green burials present a healthy, natural alternative.

Planning a green burial isn’t any more difficult than a more traditional funeral is; it’s just a new process. Here we are going to reveal the most popular green burial options to make it easier for you to realistically consider the possibility of having a green burial.

Green Caskets

Green caskets usually consist of sustainably harvested poplar wood and made without any varathanes, metals, hinges, dyes, or chemicals. Poplar trees are often referred to as “weed wood” because they mature at a particularly fast rate, allowing them to quickly reforest an area after being planted. Green caskets use traditional carpentry methods together with non-chemical adhesives to join corners as an alternative to using nails and screws, which take a very long time to naturally break down.

Natural Land Protected by Cemeteries

There are six fully certified conversation cemeteries around the United States. These certified grave sites are governed by rules that ensure the entire burial process remains completely natural and organic. For example, one of the rules is every grave site must be dug by hand, and only biodegradable material is allowed to be buried with the body. Conservation easements on green burial sites ensure that no further development will be permitted on the land. The land can be protected forever.

What are the costs of a green burial?

Green burials can be less expensive than more traditional funerals because the process is much simpler. There are no metal caskets or expensive embalming fluids used. However, due to the many steps of a green burial that require manual, non-automated labor, the costs of a green burial remain more expensive than a cremation.

Take Time to Consider Green Burial Options

The environmental stress relief a green burial provides is tremendous, it really does make a difference. Strongly consider choosing one of the green burial options if the idea of resting with nature organically appeals to you. Going green is by far the most environmentally friendly burial option available today.

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Green Funeral Service Ideas

In today’s environmentally conscious society, planning events to be ‘greener’ has become an established standard. You too can make your funeral service significantly more environmentally friendly with just an extra 20 minutes of planning. All it takes is a little effort to make a big difference. This article will help you discover the best ways to plan a green funeral service. Read on to get started now.

Finding the Bad Reveals the Good

Step one is identifying all the potential environmentally unfriendly activities that typically take place at a funeral. Don’t limit yourself to only thinking about the obvious, consider even the most common, mundane steps such as:

InvitationsReceptionTransportationFlowersLocation

Those are some of the main points to help spark your mind. Think about what a traditional funeral service expects of each listed point, then think of the potential environmental dangers. For example, consider carpooling with friends and family to both save gas, and avoid potential parking issues at the reception. There are many quick fixes, such as carpooling, that can instantly make your funeral service more environmentally friendly.

Use Eco-Friendly Funeral Products

Hinted above, purchasing local flowers grown without pesticides can reduce your eco footprint while supporting your local economy. The problem with purchasing flowers online, or from big box stores, and having them delivered is the heavy stress the large delivery trucks and excessive packaging puts on the environment. Consider creating a flower fund for the entire family to guarantee only the best eco-friendly flowers are purchased all at once.

Minimize Use of Resources

After the funeral service ends, most family and close friends tend to gather together at a local home. Consider waiting until that moment to have lunch together and share memories. If you’re looking to have a picnic at a natural burial ground, remember to bring re-usable plastic containers, avoiding non-recyclable disposable sandwich bags.

Another tips is avoiding using paper entirely by emailing funeral invites and thank you notes rather than using cards that are going to be in the trash just a month later. If you choose to go the digital route and email family and friends it may be a good idea to have everyone RSVP by phone call. This ensures everybody receives your email without any technical issues.

Use a Green Casket

Green caskets are specially designed to biodegrade naturally. They are constructed with sustainable wood products absent of any dies, chemicals, or metals, using traditional carpentry methods to create corners and folds. Green caskets tend to have a higher price tag than their more common metal alternatives due to the manual labor they take to create. Green caskets are often handmade in small specialty woodworking shops. They are very beautiful pieces of art that also benefit the environment around us.

Planning a Green Funeral Benefits Everybody

Planning a green funeral service is a great deed to the local eco-system. Doing your part to better the environment is an honorable thing, especially at the time of a funeral. For even more green funeral service ideas, consider having a green burial done in a natural burial ground. Every small adjustment which betters our world is a step in the right direction.

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Burial Service Pros and Cons

A burial service, or graveside service, is a funeral that takes place in the cemetery at the grave of the deceased person. It is performed as an alternative to a memorial service, which includes a ceremony at a funeral home or church as well as a burial. At a burial friends and family gather at the grave. A minister or chaplain conducts the service, which involves saying some words about the deceased and a few prayers. Friends and family may be asked if they would like to contribute a few words of their own. The casket is then lowered into the grave and people at the service may throw flowers in the grave onto the casket.

A burial service is chosen instead of a funeral service for a variety of reasons, with the most common being the lower cost and simplicity. The following list explains in more detail the burial services pros and cons when compared to a funeral service.

PROS

Time - A burial service often only takes 30 minutes. This is more convenient for friends and family to attend. A funeral that includes a burial will take 4 to 6 hours and will require attendees to take an entire day off work if the service is during the week. The graveside service is less stressful for a grieving family, because it will be finished quickly.

Simplicity - A burial service is far easier to organize. You may want to have flowers at the grave, but other than that no other funeral products are required. A funeral service will often include funeral stationery, a video tribute, decorations, and more.

Cost - Because a burial service is simpler it is also far cheaper. The cost of using a funeral home, paying for food, flowers, and everything else included with a traditional funeral service is very expensive. Families will often choose a cemetery service to save money.

Eco-Friendly – A reason for a burial service that has become more popular recently is because it is greener. Families will have a natural burial at a green cemetery in an effort to protect the environment. The simplicity of a natural burial means that fewer natural resources are used when compared to a traditional funeral service.

CONS

Less Social – One of the benefits of a funeral service is that it gives friends and family an opportunity to get together and share memories and help each other through the grieving process. A burial service does not have time for this interaction. If a family choses to do a burial instead of a funeral, they will often have a gathering at their house afterwards where everyone can socialize.

Less Personalized – A burial service is far less personalized than a funeral service. A funeral includes eulogies from friends and family. Furthermore, songs, prayers and hymns, video presentations and other tributes are part of a memorial service. A cemetery service is very simple and rarely includes speeches other than the family saying a few words.

Less Religious – Depending on your faith, a funeral service may be necessary. It is difficult to include the prayers, hymns and other religious ceremonies that are part of a traditional funeral at a burial service.

The reasons listed above are the most common pros and cons for choosing a graveside burial service instead of a traditional funeral service. The decision on whether or not to have a burial, funeral, or both, will primarily depend on your budget and beliefs.

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Five Benefits of a Green Funeral

Although it may not be the first thing that comes to mind when considering funeral options, traditional funeral methods actually harm the environment in different ways and there are a number of benefits of a green funeral. Cremation can put mercury and other pollutants into the air, and will still require other materials aside from the body for the process. Burial in the ground requires the harvesting of wood, and the use of embalming fluid, which will enter the local soil once the body begins to decompose.

A green burial, on the other hand, has a minimal impact on the environment, especially when considering the carbon footprint that creating a casket, producing embalming fluid, or burning matter create. Instead, the deceased will be able to choose a location where their body will be buried in a shroud, without embalming, that will be used to nurture plant life, including growing trees. Here are five benefits of a green funeral and why you may want to choose to have one.

It’s Natural

One of the more obvious qualities of a green funeral is its association with nature. The green funeral will have a greatly reduced impact on the local environment when compared to other funeral options. The body will be returned to the earth, a poetic sentiment often cited in religious and philosophical literature as part of the cycle of life and death. New life will benefit directly from that which has passed.

It’s Comforting 

Knowing that you will become one with the earth can be a source of comfort, but it can also comfort those who mourn you. When your life goes on to help a tree to grow, you will have a living monument that loved ones can see as a continuation of your memory. Most green burials are marked with a simple flagstone, as opposed to a much larger headstone.

It’s Less Expensive

A green funeral can cost as little as $2,000 or less, depending on where you wish to be buried, whereas even an affordable traditional burial can cost $6,000 or more. Green funerals involve less materials, less preparation, and require less money as a result, which means more of your estate can go to the people that you care for.

It’s Safe

Although contamination of water may be a concern with a green burial, the truth is that any bacteria within the body will quickly become inert before the issue arises. Green burials are commonly placed far away from open sources of water as well. In addition, there is no combustion, and thus no harmful pollutants will enter the air, as is the case with cremation.

It Improves the World You Love

Green burials can enrich the soil with organic material, providing much needed nutrients and nurturing the microorganisms that plants need to grow and survive. Stronger trees mean an area has better protection against storms and flooding, and helps to reduce the pollution that has already taken a toll on the world. Green cemeteries provide a rich, strong foundation for plant life that can be enjoyed by generations to come.

The above five points are only a few of the benefits of a green funeral. Read the other articles on green funerals listed below to learn more about planning a green funeral for your loved one.

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