Current Issue: March 5, 2010 Next Issue: March 19, 2010
Digging up dirt on Canada’s green burials
Who would have thought you could be environmentally friendly even when dead and decomposing? Apparently, retired British cemetery manager Ken West thought so when he opened the first woodland burial site in Carlisle, England in 1993, triggering the green burial movement. Natural burials mean the natural decomposition of the body in the soil. Free from chemical embalming fluids, the deceased is placed in a biodegradable coffin or shroud. The ecological alternative won't allow cremation because incinerating bodies emits greenhouse gases. And no vaults or fertilizers because these involve chemical and non-biodegradable components. Plants and trees replace traditional tombstones, and the names of the deceased can appear on communal boards for historical records purposes. Green burials are growing in popularity — the U.S. now operates almost 20 green cemeteries, while the U.K. has close to 200.
But green burials are slowly gaining ground in Canada, as it now officially counts three cemeteries with green burial sites — the Royal Oak Burial Park in Victoria B.C., the Cobourg Union Cemetery in Cobourg, Ont. and the Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Halifax N.S. "It’s new, and it’s something that will gain popularity over time," says Stephen Olsen, executive director of the Royal Oak Burial Park. "It’s new, and it’s something that will gain in popularity over time." — Stephen Olsen, Royal Oak Burial Park The one-third acre natural burial site called The Woodlands — which opened its doors in 1998 — has a total of 255 graves, where 15 spots are occupied and 30 are reserved for future green funerals. Small private funeral businesses, such as the Ogden and Sons Funeral Home in Agincourt, Ont., have recently joined the green movement and are now providing woven wicker coffins to their clients. These caskets are made of sea grass grown in Vietnam fields that are free from pesticides and fertilizers. "We haven’t sold any yet . . . but it’s only a matter of time," says David Garvie, manager of Ogden and Sons. People are increasingly showing interest in natural burials, but they are rarely ready to take on the alternative, says Gordon Ropchan, president of the Imperial Evergreen Casket company in Burnaby B.C. Older Canadians — the silent and baby boomer generations — have been slow to embrace natural burials because they remain attached to conventional non-green funeral ceremonies, Garvie says. He suspects attitudes are about to change as more youth are exposed to ecological practices in schools and become more concerned about the environment. "People do not easily change traditions and histories," says Olsen. According to him, it will take a generation or two before the movement really takes off in Canada. Multicultural communities may inspire green burials Some communities in Canada already adopt natural burial practices in their religion, according to Garvie. Muslim groups use the shroud, as opposed to a casket, and some Jewish communities specifically use hardwood coffins. Many of them believe the body should leave the earth the same way it came: with nothing else, explains Caley Ferguson, vice president of the Northern Casket company in Lindsay, Ont. The company offers willow and locally-made hardwood caskets that use natural wood and adhesives, unbleached textiles and are free from chemicals and metals. And for each hardwood casket sold, Ferguson says, a donation is made to a conservation authority for reforestation purposes. Green burials are not a new phenomenon, but a return to the past, says Olsen.
"Aboriginal communities have been practicing direct burial practices for years ... millenniums!" says Olsen. Can capitalists be green? Clients are often limited to non-green burial choices, which is a major problem, explains Cynthia Beal from the Natural Burial Company, based in Oregon. Corporations such as Wal-Mart — which now sells cheap non-environmentally friendly coffins — worsen the situation, she adds. "We should let people choose according to their desire and their means, while helping to ensure that everyone has access to a basic ecological alternative," Beal says. The absence of affordable ecological coffins, she adds, limits consumers to environmentally threatening choices and contributes to the contamination of underground water and soils. "Like every company, we have a duty to clients and families,” says Garvie. “But we also have a responsibility towards the environment." |
Death by numbers
3,000,000 litres: How much embalming fluid is buried in corpses in the U.S. This is enough liquid to overflow an Olympic-sized swimming pool. 1,500,000 tons: How much concrete is used in North American burial vaults each year. This is enough to build a highway from Detroit to New York. 90,000 tons: How much steel, copper and brass is buried in U.S. cemeteries. This is enough metal to build another Golden Gate Bridge or nine Eiffel Towers. 27 litres: How much gas it takes to cremate one body. Cremation seems like an obvious green burial solution, but it takes about a third of the average minivan’s gas tank just to cremate one body. 15: How many people have been buried in Victoria's green cemetery, Royal Oak Burial Park. 3: How many designated green burial sections of cemeteries there are in Canada. The U.S. has about 20 and the U.K. is in the lead with over 200 green cemeteries. Source: The Green Burial Council, CBC Ashes to ashes and toxins to toxins
What exactly are the environmental dangers of the average traditional burial? Embalming: Embalming fluid contains formaldehyde which is a known carcinogen. This stays in the body through decomposition until it enters the surrounding ground, seeping into the environment. From about the 1880s until 1910, the most common form of embalming fluid included arsenic as a main ingredient. This resulted in all cemeteries having a high concentration of a deadly poison in their soil. Natural funeral homes often offer the use of refrigeration as a preservation method to keep the body intact until burial. Vaults: Burial vaults originally became popular to deter grave robbers in the 19th century. Now vaults make up the 1.5 million tons of concrete buried in North American cemeteries yearly. Some funeral directors see concrete burial vaults as a protection against embalming fluids leaching into the surrounding ground, but green burials eschew both practices. Coffins: Coffins and caskets are usually made out of metal or cheap press board with brass or plastic handles and ornaments. All of these practices prevent bodies from decomposing naturally into the earth. Environmentally friendly coffins are being made out of recycled paper, sea grass, wicker, pure wool, even cardboard. Source: The Natural Burial Company, CBC, Water Industry News, |
The green section of the Cobourg Union Cemetery.
Biodegradable coffins from the Natural Burial Company.RSS Past Issues Privacy Policy  |
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Great article! I have been looking for information about green burials and while ottawa still doesn’t have a green cemetery, here’s hoping it will soon.