Green burials cheaper and legal, says funeral director

More people are looking at ways to minimize their carbon footprint even inthe afterlife by looking to the growing trend of "green burials" as an alternative to current burial practices.

"Conventional burials and cremation practices carry an environmental impact that some people wish to avoid," Ellen Newmantold Craig Norris, host ofCBCRadio'sThe Morning Edition.

She is a licensed funeral director specializing in green burials. She also helped start the Good Green Death Project,a community group that advocates for greener burials.

Newman explained that green burialsusematerials that have the least amount of impact on the environment.

"It's a concept that will best allowthe human body to decompose in it's natural and easy way as possible."

This means that the body would not be embalmed and is buried in the ground in a biodegradable container, with no concrete vault or grave liner.

Green cemeteries in Ontario

The movement of green burials gained a lot of traction in the U.K. in the 90s, said Newman, the trend then moved to North America in the early to mid-2000s.

In Ontario, there are seven cemeteries that allow for green burials, including one in Waterloo region and one in Niagara region.ParkviewCemetery in Waterloo, for example, offers 108 natural burial plots that openedin the fall of 2017.

Newman said in a typical cemetery, there are 4,500 litres offormaldehyde embalming fluid and 2,000 tonnes of concrete for every 0.40 hectares.

Generally, green burial plots are unmarked or share a communal memorial and thegrounds are not chemically managed.

More affordable, but cemeteries set bylaws

Newman, who also sits on theboard of directors of the Green Burial Society of Canada, said green burials are more affordable.

The plot of land will cost the same, but individuals will save money by using a simpler casket, wrapping the body in a shroud instead of embalming and going without a headstone.

"The average cost of a conventional funeral is about $8,000 to $10,000," said Newman. "A green burial will probably be about half."

Green burials in North America are legal, said Newman, pointing out that Jewish and Muslim burials are technically green because they don't embalm the body and the body isnormally buried in a simple casket.

However, cemeteriesset their own bylaws, which may restrict how green a burial can be.

"For example, aparticular cemeterymay not accept a body wrapped in a shroud," Newman said.

"Some cemeteries may have sections where they insist on a burial vault."